The news mentioned the divers each held one child underneath their body while rescuing. I was ecstatic when I heard the rescue had started. I feel as though these children are part of my family.
My prayers have already been said for 1st Class Saman Gunan.
Sgt. Major Saman Gunan wasn't abiding by any orders when he joined the effort to rescue a boys soccer team trapped in a cave in northern Thailand. The 38 year-old retired Thai Navy SEAL did so by choice.
Gunan, who was working as a volunteer, passed out underwater during an overnight mission placing extra air tanks inside the cave, along the route divers use to reach the cavern where the 12 boys and their coach remain stranded and the oxygen in the air is depleting. He couldn't be revived and was confirmed dead early Friday morning, according to Thai officials.
The world has lost a true hero with no doubt in my mind, is looking down with a smile on his face as the rescue continues.
Yea, this is a difficult task. Even experienced divers panic under those conditions. I never thought the kids would be in their own scuba gear following the leader but instead are breathing through the octopus(2nd stage). They do have to switch to rock climbing gear in two places I think to get to the next water filled cave.
At least they have staging areas to rest and get more tanks; otherwise, it is impossible to make a 6/7 hour swim underwater. That isn't even possible with technical full cave diving unless we are talking about rebreathers but even then that is a whole new set of challenges. Bottom line, this is their window. If more rain comes and fills the caves completely, it is all but over
There is one point in the dive that they have to remove all gear and crawl through a narrow path, I imagine that is their main stumbling block because most cavern divers won't even try that.
I have trained up to full cave diving in the Yucatan Peninsula and have maybe 100 total hours in a cave(which is completely different than a cavern). I stopped short of technical training but have dabbled in TRIMIX, sidemount and mapping. I consider myself pretty experienced and have been several hundred meters deep inside and in no way would I feel comfortable in this current type of rescue
Knowing what they are facing, this must be executed now, no more stalling because it will get to a point of no return. Godspeed to these people........
