Thai cave rescue: Four years on
Four years on from the incredible rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from a cave system in Thailand, AFP diver Leading Senior Constable Kel Boers has reflected on his experiences as part of the international mission.
LSC Boers has never forgotten the feeling of elation after everyone made it out of the caves safely.
Six divers from the AFP’s Specialist Response Group dive team were deployed in late June 2018 to assist with the complex recovery effort. They were soon joined by a further seven AFP colleagues – a dive coordinator, liaison officers, psychologists, a chaplain and a media officer.
“We got the call quite late on a Friday and we were on the plane come Saturday morning,” LSC Boers said.
“It was a rapidly evolving situation and although we were aware of the risks – cave diving isn’t for the faint-hearted – we were all really keen to get over there and do what we could for those kids and their coach.”
The boys and their soccer coach became trapped in a cave after heavy rains flooded parts of the Tham Luang Nang Non system. The group had been missing for seven days before they were found alive.
“The conditions in the cave were very hard to work in,” LSC Boers said.
“It was hot, the system was filling with water, carbon dioxide poisoning was always in the back of our minds and traversing the cave was very physically demanding.Add to that, the gear the divers had to carry – oxygen tanks weighing more than 40 kilograms, plus the additional supplies they were ferrying in and out of the cave – made for a gruelling two weeks, he said.”
The AFP divers were deployed to three different chambers of the cave system to move supplies, and eventually the children and their coach, from one section to the next.
“The visibility was non-existent in some sections, you could put your hand up right to the mask and still not see a thing, even with a headlamp on,” LSC Boers said.
“The rope the Thai Navy Seals had installed was our only guide underwater and if you lost that then all you could do was find it again or you were in real trouble. The cave system was so narrow in places we couldn’t fit through with our oxygen tanks on our backs.
“But despite all that there was a sense of determination among everyone in the cave to see the mission through, never mind the risks,” he said.
LSC Boers said once the critical decision had been made to get the boys out of the cave, the pressure ramped up.
“We had to make sure their masks weren’t knocked off by either the rocks or by people,” he said.
“When you’re swimming through water with dirt so thick you can barely see your hand in front of you, it’s really hard to keep your own gear safe, let alone someone else’s.
“The boys were kept very close while they were transported through the cave. Absolute care was taken, people were constantly checking on their breathing and vitals the whole journey. Once one boy was out safely, our attention was immediately on the next one, we couldn’t rest until every last soccer player and diver was out of the cave and safe.”
The rescue is a career highlight for LSC Boers, who was awarded an Order of Australia medal and Bravery Medal in 2018, as well as a Commander Third Class Royal Thai Award at a ceremony at the Thai embassy.
But for the divers, the best reward was the rescue of the team.
“To be a part of that, to be in that cave giving it our all, gives a sense of accomplishment that will never fade,” LSC Boers said.
