The Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Northern Thailand was a place the boys were familiar with — it’s described as their playground. And it was not supposed to be a risky outing considering it was well before monsoon season when they went exploring after practice. But the rains came early and trapped the young boys and their coach. For days, no one even knew whether they were alive and Thai Navy SEALS were neither trained nor properly equipped to do this kind of cave diving. The situation became more dire with each passing day.
It turns out cave diving is not something any elite emergency team in the world has trained for. The only experts are the weekend hobbyists, which is how a group of middle-aged British men became central to the operation. There are so many compelling characters helping to tell this story, but the two Brits, Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, are almost too good to…
