in the world and in the first to dive deep into the cave they briefed the americans on the daunting task ahead they were saying the currents right now are not manageable you know we've been battling to try to move forward the rains are still following the flows are getting higher the visibility is zero the water's cold. on sunday july first a break in the rain and the risk you dive team to set up a base inside one of the cave chambers. the british divers foods deeper into the cave. below the surface they swim against strong currents for one point five kilometers. and then the moment it seems like a miracle. almost ten days since they first into the cave.

what. we are happy. initially is a huge sigh of relief ok the the boys were able to find a high enough ground they've survived this long you know with some of the higher flood levels in the cave but then it was it was scary because we realized how far back they were in. of the locating the boys the british divers stanton in valencia call in reinforcements from whom. member of the british. council diving rick dive into. and when you hear that it's.

twelve children and the young coach there in this situation what you first thought about the options or the boy ability of getting the match the first thought is just not going to go out and the kids who don't recover as before with live people on. a song about panic on the water. you can tell a kid whatever you want but in an actual situation where you've got a kid in the war the more you going to panic so first we thought it's not possible to actually dive them out. jason mellon sims first dive into the cave confirms his fees. so it's a bit of a. cost on the way out in of sometimes ease you can only just feel the line sometimes you can see if a foot in front of year. all the times it's just nothing it's all by braille and you're trying to remember all these line traps so it's quite a mentally exhausting experience to go.

to any and all. right the unfolding drama is now a major international story hundreds of journalists are here in a makeshift muddy village but the food of the number and. type people have also flocked to the site from all over the country to do whatever they can to help. the twenty four hour a tent city in the middle of this remote location is feeding and supporting thousands of people involved in the operation. almost everything is being freely supplied. the operation has shifted from search to risk you're. a party of time navy seals including a medic reaches the stranded boys bringing food water heat blankets and medical supplies.

surprisingly they only have minor injuries. waiting above ground the boy's mother arrived a joy to watch the video of this son's. things that. i. am. i going. to new i always think about what. you want to see if you do i don't want to take. it out. what a lot of diving up there and seeing all these kids how will they with their coach they all seemed you know in good spirit. where they go is a quite

a desolate place. they've know as. they go to the toilet that. the smell is quite by. while the nation and the world celebrate the boy's survival rescuers grapple with the enormous challenge of hell to get them out. the search for alternative entry points to the caves this proof utah. we've had hundreds if not thousands of the time military that we're linked in with and they're not finding any other access points along the side and we found all the kievan experts that we could and they all confirmed now that there's one way in and out of this cave and that's at the front entrance of it there is no other option. the mission could not be more dangerous the boys in the coach are a kilometer below the surface and two point four kilometers inside the notoriously

treacherous cave. the option of leaving the boys where they are until after the monsoon season has been canvassed but abandoned. homes are in action draining more the out of the cave but heavy rains a full cost which could quickly submerge the entire system. it we're fighting mother nature trying to get this much water out but. it was really the understanding that the flow of water coming in and the lowering of the oxygen levels in chamber nine that that's that's what kind of forced us to a decision of hey we've got to do something now. dr craig challen is a recently retired perth vet his friend harry is dr richard harris and the need to test from adelaide they have dived together all over the world where already they

made contact with the british i followed the. i waiting up to this. probably familiar with what was going on in the car i've. yet to be honest not looking good at all. on friday july sixth as harrison challen a ride at the rescue site there is a tragedy. news breaks that a former time navy seal involved in the operation has died. at the. petty officer. had left the navy but signed up to join the search is a volunteer. who had been delivering canisters along the route being used by the divers in the cave in a cruel twist he lost consciousness after running out of himself on the return dive . me.

and. that hoping that maybe not in the name of what would. be a bank with a man. but on. me. yeah that was obviously a very sobering moment at the same time we realized ok this doesn't change anything we still have twelve kids and a coach in there we still have to to go forward and do this. in the aftermath of the tragedy the mood of the rescue changes. the short lived elation of the boys who discovered has been replaced by a sense of crisis in grim determination. everyone else was starting to see the same exact logic trail that was very quickly becoming

to. the point that the dive option was the only option the tice eales taller so you know it's approved so we're going to go in and we're going to do this. is preparations for the risky move into their final stage everyone's morale is boosted when letters written by the boys to their families and brought out by british divers are released. and i love you if i can get out please take me to crispy park. it a bit but don't worry don't forget my birthday. i am happy the seal team is taking care of us the grave what did you think of the why those kids and comported themselves strong really strong you know composure.

we told them about the plan the details of the plan that would have to how we'd have to dive them out and none of them were whimpering our crying or anything they just accepted what we were going to do real mental strength from them and which is really surprising considering consider in their ages how was it decided who goes out first who goes out what batch and when did the coach come out so that was up through. the boys on the coach on the tar and ivy we told them what was going to happen and said you choose your best men and. it's there sunday the eighth of july the twelve boys in the coach have been trapped for fifteen days the conditions are getting worse as the monsoon closes even there's a growing sense that it's now or never. that anybody can be there and i. don't hear.

exam forty. five but. twenty three. and. i don't write. the tire thirty's or to anyone not involved in the rescue operation to leave the area. as night falls the fleet of ambulances arrive this thirteen of them one for each of the boys in their coach. the task of bringing the boys else will be the responsibility of a team of thirteen foreign divers and five time navy seals.

it will take them three hours to make their way through the narrow dark passages to reach the boys. so this is where the boys are here and try but on so there's a there's a hill here craig challenge will play a key role along the route of the risk you get it is the unique skills of his friend the innate the dr harris that will be critical to the success of the mission you know how you taping the boys. yep so i did have some sort. of calm because the worst thing that could happen would be one of those guys panicking and if you put me in a full face mask with no previous experience and drag me out of a car if it's better three hour trip then all would be terrified and probably panicking as well. yet there were calmed down a bit. on the list here here yes i was out basically given

a notice of the amount. a year. that wasn't very much activity there. the risk you operation is an incredible feat of planning and coordination. so we kind of divided the cave up to make it easier nine areas right and there was of one hundred fifty people you know from chamber then from the cave all working as one big team with many different responsibilities. morrow was one of the local recovery divers so i would take a kid from chamber nine and bring him the whole way out. so with the diving which submerge with the kid. on it depending on how the line led with him on the right side of the left on the side of a hole in the back or hold in the chest have a face here depending if they to hit the roof or not or if we could see what was going on we would pull them out a little bit further. swing through the show me the first day reason to move his

ability. of a major in front i'm a sawed enough to hold on to the line by the last day it was no visibility so it's much more. mentally exhausting and i had to have a lot really close to me because if you did in. his head against the rocks was if i had my head quite close to a man i extended my head above him. my head was brushing the rocks first so we could view it the visibility was that body couldn't see the rock until he actually hit it. there are certain areas that involve floating them to certain areas the involved diving them swimming them if we have to rescuers per child you know ensuring that just at all times if there were two there was one always holding on to the child you feel in control. to get myself. comfort of not losing control of the line i was confident of again the kid out i wasn't one hundred percent confident of game out of life because if we bashed him

against a rock too hard and he dislodged. mask and flooded his mask he was a goner so that's why we have to be very slow and careful about not. banging them against rocks. the. point of. my needle is. not. my. best buddy but god but me but sometimes i might by the time that i know for the back of my hand all. mine see sees. the news that the first four of the boys have big risk you didn't go to safety is met with mixed emotions is the anxious families watch and like to

learn who is being saved the some there is a lation for others.