Shropshire rescue workers tell of Thai football team cave drama
A couple who were involved in the Thai cave rescue mission led a talk to explain their crucial parts in the incredible affair.
The rescue of a football team of 12 boys and their coach last year captured global attention.
Mike Clayton and Emma Porter, of the Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation, gave their account of the drama when they spoke to scores of people about the Tham Luang rescue.
The talk was held at The Clayton Hall, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, London Road campus on Saturday evening.
A big part of the operation was run from the couple’s home in Hampton Loade, near Bridgnorth.
As secretary of the British Cave Rescue Council, Emma was involved from the outset and jointly managed the UK operations for the three week rescue.
She provided 24/7 contact with the two lead divers who first went out, liaising with third parties including the Foreign Office and the Thai Embassy.
The 45-year-old said: “It was the most intense three weeks of my life. It was absolutely desperate at times. I hardly had any sleep.”
Chaotic
Mr Clayton, who is chairman of Midlands Cave Rescue Organisation, received the call to go out to Thailand’s Chiang Rai province within hours of the discovery that the boys and their coach were safe and well in the underground cave network.
He acted as one of three BCRC surface support personnel for the BCRC cave divers. His role was to liaise with the other agencies on site, including the Thai military, local government officials, US military and Australian government officials.
Mike, 51, who is also the equipment officer for the BCRC, said: “At the start it was chaotic. It was very stressful being out there.”
“Once we got the go-ahead to do the dive the divers could get on with it.
“At the time it would have been lucky if one person came out. There’s no way we ever dreamed we would get 100 per cent success.”
It took over a week for the young footballers’ location to be discovered, but at that point there was no way to get the boys out safely. It was so dangerous that an experienced Thai Navy Seal diver, Saman Gunan, died in a rescue attempt when taking oxygen to the boys.
Almost every cave rescue team in Britain had some involvement in the Thai cave rescue, and Midlands Cave Rescue had the highest number of key personnel directly involved.
The event was organised by Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club and raised money for Midlands Cave Rescue and the League of Friends of the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
