The 12 young footballers who were saved from a Thai cave after an international rescue effort are mourning a former Navy Seal who died in the operation.
Volunteer diver Saman Gunan lost his life on 6 July while installing oxygen tanks in the flooded cave complex. He has since been hailed as a hero around the world.
The boys and their 25-year-old coach were told of his sacrifice only on Saturday, when doctors decided they were strong enough to process the news.
“All cried and expressed their condolences by writing messages on a drawing of Lieutenant Commander Saman and observed one minute of silence for him,” said Jedsada Chokdamrongsuk, permanent secretary at the health ministry.
Photos showed the “Wild Boars” football team, who are being monitored in hospital, gathered solemnly around a picture of the diver.
“They also thanked him and promised to be good boys,” the health ministry said. The boys, aged 11-16, were pulled from the cavern by Thai Navy Seals and foreign cave diving experts, in a three-day rescue push that ended on 10 July.
They had spent nine days in the cave with little food or light when British divers first reached them on Monday 2 July.
Scores of volunteers and almost 100 divers joined the effort to free them, which saw the boys sedated and carried out on military stretchers.
Some of the specialists have expressed shock that Saman, 38, was the only person killed in the perilous venture.
His widow told the BBC: “He’s been praised as a hero because of who he was. He loved helping others, doing charity work and getting things done.” (BBC)
