Thai cave rescue – inside incredible world of Britain’s humble ‘A-Team’ divers who carry out daring missions across the world
TWO heroic Brit divers were the first to locate the missing Thai schoolboys after being asked to help with the rescue operation, it has emerged.
Richard Stanton and John Volanthen put their lives on the line to reach the boys, aged between 11 and 16, and their coach, 25, who disappeared in caves in Chiang Rai on June 23.
The pair, along with fellow Brit Robert Harper, broke through to the youngsters trapped in Tham Luang cave in Thailand on Monday.
Footage showed children in red and blue tops perched on a rocky slope inside the chamber just above the water line after they were found.
A rescuer with an English accent is heard trying to reassure the group that help is coming - but warns they will not be taken out immediately, saying: "Not today. There's two of us, you have to dive."
Bill Whitehouse, from the British Cave Rescue Council, said the trio's focus was now on extracting the group safely.
He said: "They clearly want to get them out as quick as they can, they will be making plans to get them out as quickly as possible."
Richard and John - dubbed "the A-team" by Bill - have established reputations as being among the best cave rescuers in the world, and were called upon by Thai authorities seeking expert help.
Richard, a fireman in his fifties from Coventry, and John, an IT consultant in his forties based in Bristol, have broken diving world records together and both received medals for a complex 10-day rescue attempt in France in 2010.
Richard was also involved in the rescue of 13 British soldiers in a cave in Mexico in 2004.
Speaking to CoventryLive in 2012 about receiving an MBE, Richard said he didn't believe a hobby of cave diving would lead to everything he has achieved.
He said: “Who would have thought taking up a hobby in cave diving would take me all over the world and lead to all these awards and now an MBE?
"I was very surprised. People would say in jest that I should have got an MBE by now but it’s not something I have really thought about.
“My biggest achievement was helping rescue the six soldiers.
“They were trapped for nine days and we had to teach a few of them to dive through a considerable length of passage to get them out. It took about nine hours to get them all out.”
Richard's friend Angie Timms today told The Sun Online: "We are very good friends, I think what he's doing is fantastic and it brings tears to my eyes every time I think about it.
"It takes a very special type of person to do what he's doing, he's been on a number of these rescue missions before and he's even had to bring bodies out of caves on occasion.
"He's someone who's driven, he's a self taught caver, when he applies himself to something he very centred. When he's interested in something he'll read up about it and find out all he can about it.
"He's a very quiet person who keeps himself to himself and when he does something he does it wholeheartedly, he will think things through very deliberately and properly and weigh things up in terms of what to do and not to do."
The pair developed their techniques and special equipment during exploratory dives at Wookey Hole Caves.
New technology allowed them to explore record 250ft depths at the site in Mendip Hills, Somerset in 2004.
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Specialist breathing apparatus - the RS2000 rebreather - was modified so divers can fit through confined spaces and reach depths as far as 650ft.
Daniel Medley, the director of the tourist attraction, said: "The equipment they used was key to the rescue bid in Thailand and had been developed during the long and extremely dangerous explorations which led to the record dive in 2004.
"The British team are acknowledged global experts in underwater cave systems and it makes us incredibly proud to think we helped them develop their extraordinary skills here at Wookey Hole Caves."
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