On 23rd June , an Unlikely event took place where 12 boys nicknamed as MOO PA (Wild Boars) went exploring in the CHIANG RAI province with their Coach Ekaphol Chantawong but got Trapped deep inside a Cave underneath Mountain Nang Non . What happened over those two weeks is a Remarkable story of friendship , human endurance and most importantly of Humanity .
Actually on that day Peerapat Sompianji (one of the team member) turned 17 and his Family had planned a party with cakes and other gifts in Mae Sai district in rural region ; but they didn’t knew that the Cake would be untouched for more than 2 Weeks as he was away with his Friends and as soon as the practise got over they all raced through the Paddy fields which was blancketed in rain and their destination was Tham Luang Cave ; it was one of Favourite jobs for boys as they liked to explore each nook and corner . 12 boys and their Coach went to the THAM LUANG NANG non cave network in Northern Thailand after practise and parked their Bikes and placed their Shoes outside the Cave campus though a Sign outside showed Danger entering the cave during rain . As they went on deeper they started feeling the presence of TROUBLES awaiting them .

It was raining there from last few days and the water was to fill somewhere and SOMEWHERE was the Tham Luang cave . Initially they sensed it and wanted to get out but ended up getting even Deeper . They eventually found themselves Marooned on a small rocky shelf of about 4 km from the cave entrance .

The beach was Flooded now which took away all sense of time from all of them . At this point they all showed Determination and dugged 5km deeper into the Shelf where they could huddle together and feel Warm . Coach AKE who was a former Monk taught the boys to Meditate to be Calm and use as little Air as possible . Also Luck favoured the Bold as they had a supply of drinkable water in the form of Moisture dripping from the cave wall ; though they didn’t had any Food . They were getting enough Air due to the porous limestone and cracks in rocks ; though it was dark but thet had Torches .

Outside the cave a Full Rescue operation was quickly Unfolding as once the boys were missing and were searched by Thai Navy Seals , National Authorities and Local Police and even some local Volunteers all were called on by the Authorities . Initial investigations found some Foot marks and hand prints at one of chambers of cave but apart from it there were No Signs that they were Alive . The Boars were somewhere in between the Tham Luang . Exploring the cave was a big challenge as even DIVERS had little experience of cave diving . The merciless weather with continuous rainfall ensured that water level is still rising , chambers are flooded and rescuers are further cut off from Cave . Literally they didn’t had any IDEA what to do . Engineers desperately tried to pump out water by small water pumps , long pipes , knives and shovels ; they even tried to drill the mountainside by finding any cracks in the cave to squeeze into and also used Drones with thermal sensors to locate the boys . Rescuers also turned to local villagers for ideas . They found a Wild Boars member who happened to skip the session ; he recalled a place where they had visited before – PATAYA BEACH .

Apart from the rescuers a group of Villagers were continuously present ; thet were family members of the Wild Boars members who were continuously praying including the Godmother of Coach Ake who went up everyday carrying Fruits , Incense and Candles to respect the spirit of Cave to protect the 13 . A Makeshift Shrine was constructed so they could all offer prayers . Now the rescuers decided to include Concerned Teachers as well and they were very close to the Wild Boars and were eager to welcome them back . Their classmates held prayers , sang encouragement songs infront of Cave , folded paper cranes and posted Hope Messages on school noticeboard . Villagers rallied together , collected donations and gave food packrts to relatives and friends of Wild Boars waiting there . Now the story got national attention as well an dit got lit on Social Media .
On 28th June the first International Rescuers arrived ; the US air firce rescue specialists and cave divers from UK , Belgium , Scandinavia , Australia , etc . Now a constant battle started with the constantly strong Currents which were forcing them backwards . More than 30 US Personnels arrived with 3 British diving experts .

Exactly 1 week after they went missing , on 1st July , they reached a Cavern where which served as a key base for divers .
John Volanthen and Rick Stanton were bravely fighting against the Odds to find signs of Life . On Monday they reached Pataya Beach but found nothing . On Monday they found an Air Pocket whilegoing further in darkness for about 100 metres . Thet said “Whenever there was Air Surface we smelt , we smelt the children befire we heard or saw them .

Soon the wait was over and the children emerged from the darkness . They were counting and asked how many were there ; the reply came 13 which made them Relaxed and they after boosting their Morale for sometime left by giving them Lights and Blankets and promised to return with Food . The meeting was recorded in Cameras and when it came into the eyes of parents , relatives and the while nation actually , Celebration began worldwide that the Wild Boars are alive .

Boys and Coach met with military medic and Navy SEALS dovers who stayed with them for the rest of Ordeal . They were provided with some solid food and light after 9 days ; doctors ordered to give them medicated liquid food and mineral water with added vitamins . A boy even celebrated his birthday inside . Now the rescuers started figuring out how to take the boys outside from the route where at some places where even Rescuers may struggle . Now the job was getting even more difficult as Rain was predicted for the coming 3 days .

The international eyeballs led to both international reporters and volunteers pouring in there . The small makeshift town mushroomed at the rural country park by the cave entrance . Food stalls were set up , some by the Royal Tahi Kitchen providing free drinks , hot food , etc . There were people cleaning Dirty Toilets , drivers providing free lift to recuers as they had to do many Ups and Downs ; a local Londromat even cleaned the muddy clothes of rescuers . Even the Thai prime minister PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA called the while nation to support the Mission and he himself came to morally boost the Rescuers .

Former Navy Seal diver SAMAN GUNAN was a Rescuer who deserves special Regards and SLAUTE . On 6th july while returning from routine trip to deliver Oxygen Tanks to the boys , he himself fell short of oxygen tanks , lost Consciousness and ran out of diver . He was somehow pulled out and tried to be revived . But unfortunately he could not be saved and left the world at a tender age of 38 . He was a fit and healthy diver also had represented Thailand in TRIATHALONS .

Now another problem started , Oxygen fell from original level of 21% to 15% and if an Expert Diver could die , what could be the fate of children who have never dived before . Time was really running out . Three main options identified were :

1. Training the boys to dive through flooded areas of cave ; idea was so potential of Disaster that it was considered a Last Resort .

2. Pumping water out and expecting water level to recede naturally ; but it could take even 4 months .

3. Finding or drilling alternative passages into the cave .

Now the Rescuers started figuring out how to transport the children through water out of cave . Firstly they performed Practice Drills as the job was too dofficult .They set up an operating base at 700m inside the cave where thousands of oxygen tanks were stored . Initially the work seemed so Difficult that even laying Cables and Phone lines seemed extremely difficult . An idea of kid sozed Submarine was rejected earlier . On 6th july Oxygen Supply was set up and children communicated with their Parents by Writing LETTERS which were containing Scrawling Hearts and Smiley Faces were really deep and heart touching with everyone In or Out was thanking and apologizingfor their deeds .

Finally on 7th july it was decided by Head of Operation Narongsak Osotthanakorn that now they should be brought out and we can’t be more ready than this . A brisk mood overtook now and Journalists and Volunteers were asked to leave the site . Also Rain was a faded now giving some Relief but the cave would have been flooded till 10th july . So a SUPERHUMAN rescue operation was going to take place by using 100 Thai and Foreign Divers . The operation was divided into two parts :

PART A

From boys rocky ledge to Chamber 3 . Rescuers spent hours pitching out bone chilling cold water . At times they had to navigate sectiona so ridicuosly narrow that only a body could fit in there . Each boy was given a full air mask to breathe and was clipped to a diver with another one accompanying the boy . At narrow sections sometimes they had to unstrap their air tanks and then also wear it again ,ie the boys who didnt had any experience were using Scuba equipments ; just Imagine how Difficult and Risky this job was even for expert divers so just imagine the condition of Children . Its said that they were given Anti-Anxiety Medicine but accirding to BBC it’s revealed that they were very much Sedated to make them semi-conscious so they don’t Panic . Once they reached Chamber 3 it was the time of

Part B

Each boy was secured in a Stretcher and carried by atleast 5 men apart from wearing full face Scuba mask , wetsuit , boot and helmet . At one point the stretcher was placed on a Raft and pulled across a Chin-High pool of water . It was a 11 hour round trip for rescuers . Then they were winched through the Slope using pulley and 8mm rope ; somewhere they were passed through human chain hand by hand and somewhere they were slid at the top of Pipes pumping out water . One by one the Wild Boars were brought out of Cave and were gave Oxygen before being taken to Hospital of Chiang Rai ; they were taken in 3 batches as some time was needed to REPLENISH the Tanks .
The first four came out on 8th July , next four on 9th and finally the last four and Coach on 10th . The MATCH was Close as by the time last batch was taken out water started rising again at the rate of 30 cm/hour . On 10th july it was said that the cave will be completely Flooded and jyst few minutes after the last boy was taken out a Pump stopped working . Finally an astonishing feat was achieved as after 2 agonising weeks the boys and Coach were out that too Safe and Sound . Even Thai Navy Seals posted on FB “We are not sure if this is a miracle , science or what ” . In the street the jubilant crowd started cheerong and car horns blared incessantly in celebration . The whole world was celebrating the return of Wild Boars . The doctor named RICHARD HARRIS cut short his holiday in Thailand to save the boys even after he received the news of the death of his Father .

The Wild Boars waved dressed in Gown and face covered with mask . On 11th july the Rescue Video was released . The parents who waited for so long had to wait even longer as they were behind the Viewing Window ; Quarantining was necessary to protect the boys and others from Infection . Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha also visited them personally . At the hospital they went through many Medical Check specially Eyes as their eyes accustomed to two weeks of darkness couldn’t bear light at all . Hospital authorities said that some had minor lung and eye infections but rest everything was alright . Some even started eating their favourite food stuff after missing them for so long .
The rescue group itself said that the Mission would be that successful ; they just had a little hope which became Realty eventually . The mission started with majority thinking that it will end in Tragedy but it ended by uniting the children and Coach with their Families . It’s a story of Normal people coming together from all over the world in a remote town of Thailand with one mission : Saving 12 boys and a Man .

Already plans of museum and tourist place is on the cards and two production companies are also eyeing Film potential here ; even Bollywood should eye one .

So it was an Offbeat Article as per my works are concerned ; as it looks more like a STORY but isn’t it just Outstanding ; not my work but the actual story . It’s a Mission which hasn’t received that much Appreciation among us . It’s MISSION IMPOSSIBLE is real sense and when we have given so much time , money and respect to the REEL one ; come on let’s give the same treatment to the REAL one as well .

One more thing we can learn that how people of different communities came together and did Wonders ; we INDIAWAALE who are way more in no.s and varied in culture if always stay United and Bonded we can also fight any Evil , overcome any obstacle and reach any height in Life .

JAI HIND

ARUNESH SINHA