Thai Navy Seals - Tham Luang Cave Rescue, 2018

"12 boys trapped in a flooded cave. Zero SEAL training for cave diving. One SEAL died trying. They still saved them all."

STORY: June 2018. A soccer team and their coach were trapped deep in Tham Luang cave by sudden flooding. Thai Navy SEALs responded, but they weren't cave divers. The route involved swimming through flooded passages in zero visibility, squeezing through gaps barely wide enough for a body. Saman Kunan, a retired SEAL, died during a supply run when his oxygen ran out. The remaining SEALs refused to quit. They learned cave diving on the job, in the dark, in one of the world's most dangerous underwater cave systems. For two weeks, they made supply runs, bringing food, water, and hope to the trapped boys. When the rescue began, SEALs guided drugged children through hours of underwater passages in complete darkness. Each rescue took five hours of swimming through coffin-tight spaces. Every boy survived. One SEAL gave his life, but his teammates honoured him by saving thirteen lives.