The Boys in the Cave

So of all the many things in the world one could worry about, I've been fixating much of my emotional energy on the Thai soccer team that has been trapped in the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai. Chiang Rai is the northernmost province of Thailand and abuts Myanmar and Laos.

There's is such a sweet, sad, and extraordinary story that merges a Tom Sawyer-style adventure, Buddhist spirituality, truly heroic sacrifice, cutting edge science, triumph, tragedy, and family drama. Eleven boys, aged 11 to 16, and their soccer coach, "Ekk", decided to go caving to celebrate the birthday of one of the boys. In retrospect, it was an unwise decision, especially with the monsoon season approaching, but how could the caves not appeal to those kids? When I was a child, those caves would have had all the allure of a phantasmagorical mystery.

As we know, the caves flooded, and the team retreated deeper and deeper into the labyrnthine passages. They eventually found themselves on a ledge four kilometers from the cave entrance, and there they waited for between nine and ten days until two intrepid British divers, John Volanthen and Richard Stanton, an Internet engineer and a firefighter, found them. The two British divers mapped a dark and difficult six-hour journey, upstream through rushing waters, to the area where the team was trapped.

Over 100 elite divers, most of them volunteers, helped with the search and resuce mission. Buddhist monks set up a shrine and kept a constant prayer vigil at the cave entrance. Workers tried to drain the caves and mounted strenuous searches for alternative entry points to the chamber. Elon Musk came up with several ingenious ideas and went as far as having a mini-submarine built to rescue the trapped boys (it doesn't look as though it'll be needed, but I gather that it's ready to go). The local and international efforts to help have been quite uplifting. The rescue has galvanized the world.

Sadly, one diver, Saman Gunan, a 38-year-old former Thai navy SEAL, died on Friday, July 6. He apparently passed out, ostensibly having run out of air, in one of the narrow underwater passages. After his death, Thai officials were very hesitant to dive the team out. They feared that the boys, most of whom can't swim, might panic, which could potentially be fatal.

I've seen a relatively experienced diver panic. On our honeymoon in the Maldives, Craig and I set out on a boat with a group to do a "drift dive" -- we would go down 20 or 30 feet and then drift with a fast-moving current along the side of a reef. The boat would follow the current and pick us up a couple of hours later. We were accompanied by a British man, who was a little put out to be diving with mere beginners like us. He'd dived some of the world's best dive spots, such as the Red Sea and the Caribbean. He had the most expensive equipment, including a full drysuit (as opposed to a mere wetsuit). So we arrived at our dive site, submerged, and were immediately enthralled by the reef life as we were whisked off by the current. Then hysterical shrieking shattered the peace. Our Brit was hanging onto a rock like a limpet and screaming bloody murder. Our dive instructor was trying to pry his hands loose so she could take him back to the boat, but he clung on frantically. I think the speed of the current scared him. She waved us off, and we continued on our own. Thankfully the boat was able to locate us when we eventually surfaced, and our dive instructor was able to get our Brit back to the boat safely.

Anyhow, eight members of the soccer team have been successfully "dived out" of the cave, four at a time, in the past 48 hours or so. Four boys and their 25-year-old coach, "Ekk", remain. Ekk was initially particularly malnourished as he insisted on giving all available food to the 12 boys with him. He lost his entire family to disease when he was just 10 years old, and he entered a Buddhist monastery at 12 and remained there for 10 years, before leaving to take care of his grandmother. He taught the boys to meditate while in the cave, and that seems to have kept them calm.

It appears that the rescued boys were given full-face masks and taken out as a group by ten divers. Each boy was hugged beneath the body of a rescue diver, as the other rescuers provided support. They seem to have made the dangerous journey far more quickly and safely than was expected. Apparently, the most dangerous part of the cave, a tunnel that was only 70cm wide, was drilled and widened, which must have eased the ordeal a little.

The rescue is now on hold for another 10 to 20 hours as teams replenish the decreased oxygen in the caverns and replace used air tanks and gear along the route. Five people remain stranded, but are being provided with food and medical care. They must be chomping at the bit to be freed. I hope to wake up tomorrow and hear good news of their release!

Update on July 10: Hooray!!! The last four boys and their coach have been rescued from the cave! There has been something incredibly endearing about the attitudes displayed by all those involved with the rescue. The parents of the boys, far from expressing anger toward the coach, did everything they could to reassure him that they did not blame him. One even went so far as to call him "my dear Ekk". The rescue teams seemed calm, purposeful, and determined. The trapped boys appeared cheerful, amazingly serene, and appreciative. Perhaps their Buddhist spirituality helped them cope with the ordeal. Apparently being calm and pleasant and showing respect and self-control are central aspects of Thai culture, drawn in part from Theraveda Buddhism. Thais value sanuk, an ethos of light-heartedness, playfulness, and fun. During songkran, the celebration of the Thai New Year from April 13 to April 15, the entire country indulges in ... a water fight! Everyone gets water guns and sprays everyone else. The Thai culture seems respectful, non-confrontational, and joyful. There is a Thai Buddhist Temple in Peyton, CO, and a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temple in Denver. I would love to attend a service at either one.

Update on July22: As expected, given that an anesthesiologist, Richard Harris, was the last person out of the cave, it appears that the boys and their coach were sedated for the evacuation. While there have been conflicting reports of the drug they were given (Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-O-Cha said they were given an "anti-anxiety medication"), it seems they were given Ketamine. Photos and videos of the boys during the rescue suggest they were fast asleep. Ketamine seems like a useful tool for the future.