Rescue Diver Reveals Unseen Messages, Markings Left Behind by Thai Cave Boys

The entrance to Thailand's Tham Luang Cave, where 12 boys and their soccer coach were trapped on June 23, 2018 for up to 18 days after a sudden water surge. They were extracted from the cave during an unprecedented mission involving Thai and foreign divers. (Photo Credit: Thierry Falise / LightRocket via Getty Images)

One year after the Thai cave rescue that gripped the world, one of the hero divers that helped rescue the young soccer team has revealed previously unseen messages and markings the boys made in the cave walls in desperation.

Diver Mikko Paasi, 44, returned to the cave with Thai Navy SEALs and one of the rescued boys, and found haunting carvings, such as children’s names and the words “lost boys,” that the soccer team left behind.

“We walked to the far end of the cave to discover many writings on the walls. These were writings by the desperate team of 13 young boys trapped in the dark,” Paasi wrote in a blog post.

According to Paasi, they also found that one of the boys had carved his Facebook address on the wall.

“We found markings in Thai like ’13 boys lost’… and then there were dates like June 26,” he said. “It was intense.”

Paasi was one of more than 90 divers who saved the boys and their coach after a shock monsoon trapped them inside the cave for an agonizing 18 days last year. It was one of the most dangerous rescues in history.

Aside from messages and carvings, Paasi and the team also found other “lost relics” in the cave.

Still partially buried in rocks, in a sort of makeshift altar, Paasi found the 20 baht note the Wild Boars soccer team “offered” to the spirits to help get them out of the cave safely.

“I remember thinking that this note did its job and was well spent, since here we are now after 9 months, Paasi wrote. “The youngest of the boys is now 12 and living his life fully.”

The team took the note, which is now on display at the Rescue Museum in Mae Sai.

Paasi and the team also came across the hand-dug tunnel, about 19-feet deep, that the boys made in a desperate attempt for escape.

Space blankets, air tanks, and other rescue equipment were still found in the chamber where the soccer team was eventually found.

According to Paasi, returning to the cave gave him more insight on last year’s rescue. Observing the site, now that the cave wasn’t flooded, revealed the sheer amount of sand in the cave, which would have made the access to the boys impossible, had they been left there over the rainy season.

Paasi also realized the enormous size of the chamber, measuring over 164 feet in length and over 32 feet in height, which gave the boys a lot of ground to stay dry on. “It [made it] easier to understand how the kids were able to survive through the 17 days,” he said.

Source: Geek.com

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