June 18, 2025 • 23 mins
Darkness. Floodwaters. A mountain closing in around them. When twelve young Thai soccer players and their coach entered Tham Luang Cave after practice, none imagined they would spend the next eighteen days trapped in its depths, becoming the focus of one of history's most complex rescue operations.
What followed was a rescue so audacious it seemed impossible on paper – sedating each boy, fitting them with full-face masks, and guiding their unconscious bodies through underwater passages barely wider than a human torso. This unprecedented operation required extraordinary courage, sacrifice, and innovation, claiming the lives of two rescuers while ultimately saving all thirteen trapped individuals. Beyond the dramatic underwater extraction, the Thai Cave Rescue revealed humanity's remarkable capacity for collaboration across borders, languages, and expertise. More than 10,000 people – from cave diving specialists and medical professionals to local farmers who sacrificed their crops – united with a single purpose: bringing these boys home. Their story reminds us that even in our most harrowing moments, when hope seems lost in darkness, the combined will of humanity can create miracles.
Listen now to experience the complete, remarkable journey of the Thai Cave Rescue – a testament to human endurance, ingenuity, and our capacity to accomplish the impossible when lives hang in the balance.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Welcome to Clue Trail , where true stories unravel one
step at a time, from crimes andcolds to survival stories and
the downright strange.
We follow the twists that leadto the truth.
If you're enjoying the show,check out Patreon for bonus
(00:32):
episodes and early access.
Just search ClueTrail or hitthe link in the show notes.
And don't forget to follow,rate or review the podcast.
It helps more curious mindsfind us.
Now let's dive into today'scase.
(01:13):
On June 23rd 2018, 12 boys andtheir football coach disappeared
into a cave in northernThailand.
Into a cave in northernThailand.
What started as a quickpost-practice adventure turned
(01:37):
into an international crisis,one that would grip the world
for more than two weeks, trappedin total darkness, deep
underground, with monsoon rainsflooding the cave behind them.
Their fate seemed sealed, butwhat followed was a rescue so
daring, so complex it felt likesomething out of fiction.
(01:58):
This isn't a story of crime,but of survival, teamwork and
sacrifice.
This is the Thai Cave Rescue.
(02:18):
It was a Saturday afternoon andthe Wild Boars football team had
just finished practice.
The boys were in high spiritsit was one of their teammates'
birthday.
Before the celebration, theyhopped on their bikes and rode
towards the entrance of TamLuang Cave for a bit of
(02:40):
exploring.
Tam Luang, or the Cave of theSleeping Lady, is a sprawling
limestone cave system beneath amountain range near the Myanmar
border.
It stretches over 10 kilometers.
During the dry season it's safeto explore, but when the
(03:01):
monsoon rain arrives, explore,but when the monsoon rain
arrives, the passages feel likea submerged labyrinth.
For the boys, visiting the cavewas kind of a ritual After
football practice.
They'd bike out together,venture deep inside and write
their names on the wall at theend of the tunnel.
(03:23):
Write their names on the wallat the end of the tunnel.
They arrived late in theafternoon, still in their
football gear.
Led by their assistant coach,they parked their bikes just
outside the cave entrance,kicked off their shoes and
stepped inside.
It wasn't meant to be a seriousadventure.
They didn't bring any food orspare clothes, just a few
(03:52):
flashlights and each other.
The plan was simple Hikethrough the cave, sign the back
wall and be home in time fordinner.
Unbeknownst to the boys, rainhad begun to fall hard miles
away in the surrounding hills.
As they wandered deeper in thecave, water surged in through
(04:18):
the rear tunnels, cutting offtheir exit behind them.
They were now trapped nearlyfour kilometres inside and no
one outside had any idea wherethey were.
That evening, when the boysdidn't come home, their parents
(04:39):
grew anxious and by nightfall asearch party had formed.
Park rangers, police and thefamily members arrived, and
there, at the cave entrance,they found the boys' bikes,
neatly parked.
That was the moment it hiteveryone.
(04:59):
This wasn't just a delay theboys were missing.
By the next morning, the areaaround the cave had turned into
a command post.
Rescue teams began arriving,first local officials, then the
(05:24):
Thai Navy SEALs.
But even for them, tam Luangwas a different kind of monster.
Inside, the divers facedfreezing water, razor-sharp
rocks and twisted tunnels barelywider than their shoulders.
Progress was agonizingly slow,and outside, the world was
(05:49):
starting to take notice.
The media descended.
Cameras from CNN, bbc and Thaitelevision all pointed at the
cave.
This story was spreading fast.
Twelve boys and their coachtrapped.
No word and the clock ticking.
And so a national emergency wasdeclared.
(06:14):
And whilst the SEALs wereworking inside to reach the boys
, thai authorities scrambled tocontrol the one thing,
threatening everything the waterGiant.
Industrial pumps were broughtin to push thousands of litters
out of the cave.
Running day and night,volunteers dug trenches.
(06:36):
Local farmers sacrificed theircrops to divert flood water away
.
But it was a losing battle.
The monsoon rains kept comingand the cave just kept filling
Every minute.
The window to save the boys wasshrinking.
(06:56):
And then help began to arrivefrom far beyond Thailand.
Everyone watching wanted to dosomething.
An elite US military team flewin, chinese engineers brought
industrial-grade water pumps,australian medical divers.
It had become an internationalmission, a race against rising
(07:21):
water, falling oxygen and time.
The world was now workingtogether to bring the boys home,
and amongst them there were twoBritish cave diving specialists
, rick Stanton and John Volanton.
In the dangerous, highly nicheworld of cave diving, these two
(07:48):
were legends.
For the next week, all theseinternational teams worked
together with the Thaiauthorities, navigating maps,
probing sinkholes, even drillinginto the mountain above.
Still no one knew if the boyswere alive.
(08:19):
Ten days passed now and still nosigns of the boys and no way to
reach the deeper chambers ofthe cave.
But that was until John andRick, the two British divers,
pushed farther than anyone hadgone before, navigating peach
black water, clinging to a thinrope line.
They surfaced into a narrow airpocket nearly four kilometers
(08:41):
in sight, and there they wereall 12 boys and their coach,
alive.
They were thin and cold andhuddled together on a muddy
ledge, but alive.
Everyone, from families to theworld-watching, felt a sigh of
relief, but only for a moment,because finding them was only
(09:09):
the beginning.
Getting them out, that would bethe real miracle.
It was day 10 of the rescuemission when the boys and their
coach were found.
Footage from John Helmut'scamera flashed across screens
(09:32):
everywhere 13 faces, gaunt, pale, caked in mud, but smiling.
They had survived in totaldarkness, drinking water that
dripped from the cave walls andmeditating, a skill that their
coach had learned during hisyears as a Buddhist monk.
(09:54):
They hadn't eaten in ten days.
Some were showing early signsof infection, and the ledge they
clung to, now known as PattayaBeach, was slowly disappearing
as the floodwaters kept rising.
The joy of discovery now gaveway to the terrifying
(10:17):
realization that this wasn'tjust a rescue, it was a medical
evacuation Through fourkilometers of narrow submerged
rock with zero visibility anddeadly turns.
Most of the boys couldn't swim,none had ever worn diving gear
(10:38):
and parts of the route were sotight.
Even experienced adult divershad to remove their tanks to
squeeze through.
Rick Stanton later recalledthis wasn't just hard, it was
impossible unless we didsomething unthinkable.
(10:59):
Engineers and authoritiesscrambled for other options.
Maybe the water could be pumpedout, could a shaft be drilled
(11:20):
from above?
But every idea hit a wall andtime was running out, as inside
the boys' chamber, oxygen hadalready dropped to just 15%, and
that was dangerously low.
And the monsoon rains, althoughstopping for now, they were
(11:41):
forecast to return in three days, threatening to seal the cave
forever.
The situation was dire.
Then came the rescue plan.
It was radical and a lastdesperate attempt.
The situation was dire.
Then came the rescue plan.
It was radical and a lastdesperate attempt.
They would sedate the boys,mask them, strap them in and
(12:04):
guide them unconscious throughthe flooded tunnels, one at a
time.
The risks were staggering.
All we'd take was one singlemistake, a leak, a child waking
up, and they could drown withinminutes.
(12:27):
And whilst all the logistics ofthis incredibly dangerous plan
were being debated, tragedy hit.
The cave claimed its firstvictim.
During a routine supply mission, saman Kunan, a former Thai
Navy SEAL, lost consciousnessunderwater whilst placing oxygen
tanks.
He died inside the cave.
(12:59):
He was a hero who gave his lifebringing life-saving air to the
trapped boys.
But still the mission had to goforward.
There was no other way.
This plan was so controversialand risky.
(13:21):
Some called it a completemadness, but for the rescuers
inside Tam Luang Cave, it wasthe only shot they had.
It was the only shot they had,brickstunton later recalled.
(13:49):
The plan was as following Eachboy would be fully sedated to
prevent panic underwater.
This was to be administered byDr Richard Harris, the
Australian cave diver andanesthetist, which flown in to
help early in the rescue mission.
The boys would be unconscious,breathing through full-face
masks placed in stretchers andwrapped in waterproof rescue
(14:12):
sleds designed to keep themsecure, warm and afloat during
this dangerous extraction.
Then each rescue diver wasassigned a buoy.
They'd swim side by side,navigating submerged corridors
(14:35):
just wide enough for one singleperson at a time.
Before the rescue began, theteams spent days rehearsing.
They laid oxygen tanks every 25meters, pumped out water
relentlessly, gaining preciouscentimeters, and stabilized each
(14:56):
boy with IV, nutrition andantibiotics.
But pressure was mounting dueto the weather forecast.
They had to take the onlywindow available Three days to
(15:28):
save 13 lives, july 8, 2018.
Day one of the rescue operation, the divers were ready.
The sedation protocol had beenrehearsed, debated and refined.
Each boy would receive aprecise dose of ketamine, strong
enough to keep them fullyunconscious for the entire
journey, which would be anywherebetween 3 to 5 hours, but
(15:48):
carefully monitored to avoidrespiratory failure.
Each child was dressed in awetsuit, masked, hands bound
gently to prevent panic-inducedmovement.
If they awoke underwater, thena diver would guide each one by
holding their air tank andharness.
(16:09):
Another diver would followbehind, watching for any signs
of distress, and so with allthat in place, the first boy
disappeared into the black water.
Hours passed, then a voice overthe radio One out.
(16:34):
Their rescue plan worked.
By the end of day one, fourboys had been successfully
extracted from the cave.
They were cold and groggy, butalive.
The world cheered, but no onerelaxed.
There were still nine peopleinside.
(16:55):
The world cheered, but no onerelaxed.
There were still nine peopleinside and the monsoon clock was
still ticking.
On day two, july 9th, with fourboys already rescued, the dive
team regrouped.
The conditions inside the caveremained treacherous Narrow
tunnels, strong currents, zerovisibility.
(17:19):
But the system had worked theboys inside.
By now they knew what wascoming.
They had seen their friendsleave unconscious, unmoving,
zipped into stretchers.
Now it was their turn.
One by one, the divers sedatedand secured the next group of
(17:40):
boys.
Each child was masked, wrappedand carefully guided through the
same twisting, flooded gauntlet, through choke points, over
rock formations, up and out.
By the end of day two, fourmore boys had made it out, eight
(18:02):
now safe, five still inside.
It was then day three.
This was it, the final push.
The last four boys and theircoach were still deep in the
cave.
Rescuers knew that if theydidn't finish today, the cave
might flood again, cutting themoff completely.
(18:23):
So the divers had to movequickly but carefully.
The weather held so far, butthe pressure was immense.
The weather held so far, butthe pressure was immense.
Then, across the day, radiochatter crackled through the
(18:44):
command centre Ninth is out,tenth is out, eleven, twelve and
finally another voice camethrough the coach is out.
All 13 were out 18 days afterthey entered the cave.
They were all alive and as thelast team of divers surfaced,
(19:09):
cheers echoed across themountain.
The rescue mission was nowcomplete.
It was a miracle of logistics,engineering and human will.
Behind the scenes, physical andemotional scars remained.
The boys would remainhospitalized for over a week.
Most were malnourished, somehad infections.
(19:32):
They had not seen daylight forover 17 days, and two of their
rescuers had paid the ultimateprice.
Saman Kunan, the former ThaiNavy SEAL who died placing air
tanks, was mourned as a nationalhero.
And nearly a year later anotherrescuer, petty Officer Beirut
(19:56):
Pakbara, died from a bloodinfection he contracted during
the mission.
Two lives lost and 13 saved.
(20:24):
The Wild Boars becameinternational guests, meeting
world leaders, appearing indocumentaries and later
portrayed in films like theRescue and 13 Lives.
Coach Ekapol was praised forkeeping the boys calm, using
meditation to lower their heartrates and conserve oxygen.
Dr Richard Harris, who riskedeverything to sedate his
(20:48):
children, was named Australianof the Year.
Rick Stanton and John Valentin,the divers who first found the
boys, were hailed as legends oftheir field.
But it wasn't just the survivalthat stunned the world, it was
the collaboration.
(21:09):
More than 10,000 people played apart in the rescue Thai Navy
SEALs, international cave divers, doctors, engineers, geologists
, volunteers, people from acrossthe globe, many of whom had
never met.
They all worked together forone goal Bring the boys home.
(21:31):
Tam Luang Cave was latertransformed into a national park
and memorial, a place toremember not just what was lost
but what was possible, becausein the darkest place, imaginable
hope found a way in.
Thank you for listening to ClueTrail.
(21:55):
We'll be back soon with moretrue stories that unravel, one
step at a time.
Until next time, stay safe andstay curious.
Thank you.
Welcome to Clue Trail , where true stories unravel one
step at a time, from crimes andcolds to survival stories and
the downright strange.
We follow the twists that leadto the truth.
If you're enjoying the show,check out Patreon for bonus
(00:32):
episodes and early access.
Just search ClueTrail or hitthe link in the show notes.
And don't forget to follow,rate or review the podcast.
It helps more curious mindsfind us.
Now let's dive into today'scase.
(01:13):
On June 23rd 2018, 12 boys andtheir football coach disappeared
into a cave in northernThailand.
Into a cave in northernThailand.
What started as a quickpost-practice adventure turned
(01:37):
into an international crisis,one that would grip the world
for more than two weeks, trappedin total darkness, deep
underground, with monsoon rainsflooding the cave behind them.
Their fate seemed sealed, butwhat followed was a rescue so
daring, so complex it felt likesomething out of fiction.
(01:58):
This isn't a story of crime,but of survival, teamwork and
sacrifice.
This is the Thai Cave Rescue.
(02:18):
It was a Saturday afternoon andthe Wild Boars football team had
just finished practice.
The boys were in high spiritsit was one of their teammates'
birthday.
Before the celebration, theyhopped on their bikes and rode
towards the entrance of TamLuang Cave for a bit of
(02:40):
exploring.
Tam Luang, or the Cave of theSleeping Lady, is a sprawling
limestone cave system beneath amountain range near the Myanmar
border.
It stretches over 10 kilometers.
During the dry season it's safeto explore, but when the
(03:01):
monsoon rain arrives, explore,but when the monsoon rain
arrives, the passages feel likea submerged labyrinth.
For the boys, visiting the cavewas kind of a ritual After
football practice.
They'd bike out together,venture deep inside and write
their names on the wall at theend of the tunnel.
(03:23):
Write their names on the wallat the end of the tunnel.
They arrived late in theafternoon, still in their
football gear.
Led by their assistant coach,they parked their bikes just
outside the cave entrance,kicked off their shoes and
stepped inside.
It wasn't meant to be a seriousadventure.
They didn't bring any food orspare clothes, just a few
(03:52):
flashlights and each other.
The plan was simple Hikethrough the cave, sign the back
wall and be home in time fordinner.
Unbeknownst to the boys, rainhad begun to fall hard miles
away in the surrounding hills.
As they wandered deeper in thecave, water surged in through
(04:18):
the rear tunnels, cutting offtheir exit behind them.
They were now trapped nearlyfour kilometres inside and no
one outside had any idea wherethey were.
That evening, when the boysdidn't come home, their parents
(04:39):
grew anxious and by nightfall asearch party had formed.
Park rangers, police and thefamily members arrived, and
there, at the cave entrance,they found the boys' bikes,
neatly parked.
That was the moment it hiteveryone.
(04:59):
This wasn't just a delay theboys were missing.
By the next morning, the areaaround the cave had turned into
a command post.
Rescue teams began arriving,first local officials, then the
(05:24):
Thai Navy SEALs.
But even for them, tam Luangwas a different kind of monster.
Inside, the divers facedfreezing water, razor-sharp
rocks and twisted tunnels barelywider than their shoulders.
Progress was agonizingly slow,and outside, the world was
(05:49):
starting to take notice.
The media descended.
Cameras from CNN, bbc and Thaitelevision all pointed at the
cave.
This story was spreading fast.
Twelve boys and their coachtrapped.
No word and the clock ticking.
And so a national emergency wasdeclared.
(06:14):
And whilst the SEALs wereworking inside to reach the boys
, thai authorities scrambled tocontrol the one thing,
threatening everything the waterGiant.
Industrial pumps were broughtin to push thousands of litters
out of the cave.
Running day and night,volunteers dug trenches.
(06:36):
Local farmers sacrificed theircrops to divert flood water away
.
But it was a losing battle.
The monsoon rains kept comingand the cave just kept filling
Every minute.
The window to save the boys wasshrinking.
(06:56):
And then help began to arrivefrom far beyond Thailand.
Everyone watching wanted to dosomething.
An elite US military team flewin, chinese engineers brought
industrial-grade water pumps,australian medical divers.
It had become an internationalmission, a race against rising
(07:21):
water, falling oxygen and time.
The world was now workingtogether to bring the boys home,
and amongst them there were twoBritish cave diving specialists
, rick Stanton and John Volanton.
In the dangerous, highly nicheworld of cave diving, these two
(07:48):
were legends.
For the next week, all theseinternational teams worked
together with the Thaiauthorities, navigating maps,
probing sinkholes, even drillinginto the mountain above.
Still no one knew if the boyswere alive.
(08:19):
Ten days passed now and still nosigns of the boys and no way to
reach the deeper chambers ofthe cave.
But that was until John andRick, the two British divers,
pushed farther than anyone hadgone before, navigating peach
black water, clinging to a thinrope line.
They surfaced into a narrow airpocket nearly four kilometers
(08:41):
in sight, and there they wereall 12 boys and their coach,
alive.
They were thin and cold andhuddled together on a muddy
ledge, but alive.
Everyone, from families to theworld-watching, felt a sigh of
relief, but only for a moment,because finding them was only
(09:09):
the beginning.
Getting them out, that would bethe real miracle.
It was day 10 of the rescuemission when the boys and their
coach were found.
Footage from John Helmut'scamera flashed across screens
(09:32):
everywhere 13 faces, gaunt, pale, caked in mud, but smiling.
They had survived in totaldarkness, drinking water that
dripped from the cave walls andmeditating, a skill that their
coach had learned during hisyears as a Buddhist monk.
(09:54):
They hadn't eaten in ten days.
Some were showing early signsof infection, and the ledge they
clung to, now known as PattayaBeach, was slowly disappearing
as the floodwaters kept rising.
The joy of discovery now gaveway to the terrifying
(10:17):
realization that this wasn'tjust a rescue, it was a medical
evacuation Through fourkilometers of narrow submerged
rock with zero visibility anddeadly turns.
Most of the boys couldn't swim,none had ever worn diving gear
(10:38):
and parts of the route were sotight.
Even experienced adult divershad to remove their tanks to
squeeze through.
Rick Stanton later recalledthis wasn't just hard, it was
impossible unless we didsomething unthinkable.
(10:59):
Engineers and authoritiesscrambled for other options.
Maybe the water could be pumpedout, could a shaft be drilled
(11:20):
from above?
But every idea hit a wall andtime was running out, as inside
the boys' chamber, oxygen hadalready dropped to just 15%, and
that was dangerously low.
And the monsoon rains, althoughstopping for now, they were
(11:41):
forecast to return in three days, threatening to seal the cave
forever.
The situation was dire.
Then came the rescue plan.
It was radical and a lastdesperate attempt.
The situation was dire.
Then came the rescue plan.
It was radical and a lastdesperate attempt.
They would sedate the boys,mask them, strap them in and
(12:04):
guide them unconscious throughthe flooded tunnels, one at a
time.
The risks were staggering.
All we'd take was one singlemistake, a leak, a child waking
up, and they could drown withinminutes.
(12:27):
And whilst all the logistics ofthis incredibly dangerous plan
were being debated, tragedy hit.
The cave claimed its firstvictim.
During a routine supply mission, saman Kunan, a former Thai
Navy SEAL, lost consciousnessunderwater whilst placing oxygen
tanks.
He died inside the cave.
(12:59):
He was a hero who gave his lifebringing life-saving air to the
trapped boys.
But still the mission had to goforward.
There was no other way.
This plan was so controversialand risky.
(13:21):
Some called it a completemadness, but for the rescuers
inside Tam Luang Cave, it wasthe only shot they had.
It was the only shot they had,brickstunton later recalled.
(13:49):
The plan was as following Eachboy would be fully sedated to
prevent panic underwater.
This was to be administered byDr Richard Harris, the
Australian cave diver andanesthetist, which flown in to
help early in the rescue mission.
The boys would be unconscious,breathing through full-face
masks placed in stretchers andwrapped in waterproof rescue
(14:12):
sleds designed to keep themsecure, warm and afloat during
this dangerous extraction.
Then each rescue diver wasassigned a buoy.
They'd swim side by side,navigating submerged corridors
(14:35):
just wide enough for one singleperson at a time.
Before the rescue began, theteams spent days rehearsing.
They laid oxygen tanks every 25meters, pumped out water
relentlessly, gaining preciouscentimeters, and stabilized each
(14:56):
boy with IV, nutrition andantibiotics.
But pressure was mounting dueto the weather forecast.
They had to take the onlywindow available Three days to
(15:28):
save 13 lives, july 8, 2018.
Day one of the rescue operation, the divers were ready.
The sedation protocol had beenrehearsed, debated and refined.
Each boy would receive aprecise dose of ketamine, strong
enough to keep them fullyunconscious for the entire
journey, which would be anywherebetween 3 to 5 hours, but
(15:48):
carefully monitored to avoidrespiratory failure.
Each child was dressed in awetsuit, masked, hands bound
gently to prevent panic-inducedmovement.
If they awoke underwater, thena diver would guide each one by
holding their air tank andharness.
(16:09):
Another diver would followbehind, watching for any signs
of distress, and so with allthat in place, the first boy
disappeared into the black water.
Hours passed, then a voice overthe radio One out.
(16:34):
Their rescue plan worked.
By the end of day one, fourboys had been successfully
extracted from the cave.
They were cold and groggy, butalive.
The world cheered, but no onerelaxed.
There were still nine peopleinside.
(16:55):
The world cheered, but no onerelaxed.
There were still nine peopleinside and the monsoon clock was
still ticking.
On day two, july 9th, with fourboys already rescued, the dive
team regrouped.
The conditions inside the caveremained treacherous Narrow
tunnels, strong currents, zerovisibility.
(17:19):
But the system had worked theboys inside.
By now they knew what wascoming.
They had seen their friendsleave unconscious, unmoving,
zipped into stretchers.
Now it was their turn.
One by one, the divers sedatedand secured the next group of
(17:40):
boys.
Each child was masked, wrappedand carefully guided through the
same twisting, flooded gauntlet, through choke points, over
rock formations, up and out.
By the end of day two, fourmore boys had made it out, eight
(18:02):
now safe, five still inside.
It was then day three.
This was it, the final push.
The last four boys and theircoach were still deep in the
cave.
Rescuers knew that if theydidn't finish today, the cave
might flood again, cutting themoff completely.
(18:23):
So the divers had to movequickly but carefully.
The weather held so far, butthe pressure was immense.
The weather held so far, butthe pressure was immense.
Then, across the day, radiochatter crackled through the
(18:44):
command centre Ninth is out,tenth is out, eleven, twelve and
finally another voice camethrough the coach is out.
All 13 were out 18 days afterthey entered the cave.
They were all alive and as thelast team of divers surfaced,
(19:09):
cheers echoed across themountain.
The rescue mission was nowcomplete.
It was a miracle of logistics,engineering and human will.
Behind the scenes, physical andemotional scars remained.
The boys would remainhospitalized for over a week.
Most were malnourished, somehad infections.
(19:32):
They had not seen daylight forover 17 days, and two of their
rescuers had paid the ultimateprice.
Saman Kunan, the former ThaiNavy SEAL who died placing air
tanks, was mourned as a nationalhero.
And nearly a year later anotherrescuer, petty Officer Beirut
(19:56):
Pakbara, died from a bloodinfection he contracted during
the mission.
Two lives lost and 13 saved.
(20:24):
The Wild Boars becameinternational guests, meeting
world leaders, appearing indocumentaries and later
portrayed in films like theRescue and 13 Lives.
Coach Ekapol was praised forkeeping the boys calm, using
meditation to lower their heartrates and conserve oxygen.
Dr Richard Harris, who riskedeverything to sedate his
(20:48):
children, was named Australianof the Year.
Rick Stanton and John Valentin,the divers who first found the
boys, were hailed as legends oftheir field.
But it wasn't just the survivalthat stunned the world, it was
the collaboration.
(21:09):
More than 10,000 people played apart in the rescue Thai Navy
SEALs, international cave divers, doctors, engineers, geologists
, volunteers, people from acrossthe globe, many of whom had
never met.
They all worked together forone goal Bring the boys home.
(21:31):
Tam Luang Cave was latertransformed into a national park
and memorial, a place toremember not just what was lost
but what was possible, becausein the darkest place, imaginable
hope found a way in.
Thank you for listening to ClueTrail.
(21:55):
We'll be back soon with moretrue stories that unravel, one
step at a time.
Until next time, stay safe andstay curious.
Thank you.
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Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides. Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.