The Trapped 13: How We Survived The Thai Cave (2022) Movie Script
1
There's absolutely no pressure
for today's interview.
You don't need to answer
any questions you don't want to answer.
There are no right or wrong answers.
The most important thing
for us is your wellbeing.
- We can stop at any time.
- Okay.
The outside world probably doesn't know,
has absolutely no idea
what it was like for us.
Maybe the truth is not what people expect.
Titan, stick close to the side.
Be careful.
That day, we met up to play football.
Hey!
- They might bite.
- Let's go!
So many dogs!
Next. Next person, go!
I'm Eakapol Jantawong. My nickname is Eak.
There's only one jump, okay?
To be a coach, firstly,
you must be a leader.
Two, you must have discipline.
This is a must.
Look at your teammates too.
And you must be passionate about it.
Look at the positions
of your teammates, okay?
Two passes only, okay?
No more than three touches.
All right. Forward.
Dom, come in, come in. Titan.
- Can you go forward?
- Let's go.
The school kids around here,
most of them are probably
in scooter gangs, drinking and smoking.
This football team was created
to keep them away from drugs.
Follow him.
Most of them come
from pretty poor families.
Get in there, get in there.
I want to be a pro footballer
and play on the national team.
Watch out for your opponents.
Hey, defense. Somebody mark him.
I like Man-U.
Manchester United.
Man-U.
Coach Eak makes sure we are diligent.
We train hard.
It won't work, Mix. Pass it back.
I push them hard
so they can qualify for soccer academies.
So that they can receive scholarships
to study for free.
Come on, come on, it's break time.
I was 24 at the time.
When we're off the field,
I'm more like a big brother.
Come on.
Even though we are not blood-related,
we hang out together like family.
The top team from the North
battles the top team from the South!
Score? 2-0.
Our plan after practice
was to go to the cave.
City kids have malls to go to on weekends.
But for the kids from the country,
all they have are mountains
and forests to explore.
The most exciting adventure
would've been to go to Tham Luang Cave.
I'd been there many times before.
After we finished playing,
we had a few bites.
I bought 10 sticks of grilled pork
and a kilo of rice.
I couldn't finish it, so I threw it away.
Chew the sticky rice.
Have some, have some.
Hey.
All set. Hurry and get ready.
- Let's go, let's go.
- Come on, let's go.
We finished eating...
- Let's go.
- Come on.
...and biked over to Tham Luang.
- Be careful.
- Hurry up.
- Wait for me.
- I'm coming too. Let's go.
Me too. Wait for me.
What?
Follow me. Come on.
That day, it wasn't rainy at all.
It was sunny and hot.
Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Some of them were excited
because it would have been
their first time in a cave.
- Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
- Let's do this!
They were pedaling
at full speed, racing their hearts out!
And of course, as always, I got ditched.
I'm so tired.
Titan was the youngest.
Whoever sees him,
can't resist teasing him.
Not a single day
went by without the teasing.
I got it every day.
Titan's strengths?
I don't think he has any.
Titan and I are really close.
We're like brothers.
On the way, we passed by orange groves
on both sides of the road.
Come on, go pray to the local spirit.
- Hurry, let's go take a look over there.
- Let's go.
- Hurry up.
- Hey, let's go.
We got to the cave and saw the sign,
the kids were like, "We can't go in."
The sign said it flooded
from July to November.
When we went into the cave,
it was June 23rd.
It wasn't the rainy season yet.
We asked the Nang Non spirit
for permission to enter.
Nang Non is the local spirit.
If we disrespected her
or didn't ask for permission,
something bad could happen.
There's a history
behind the Nang Non spirit.
She was a princess.
There was a stable boy
who was in love with the princess.
So they eloped.
The soldiers chased them.
The stable boy went
to find food for the princess...
but he was killed by the soldiers.
The princess waited,
but he never returned.
So she killed herself with a hair pin.
That's why this mountain range
looks like the sleeping princess.
- Let's get the bikes.
- Let's go into the cave.
- Hurry up.
- Come on.
- Wow.
- I see, that's why...
When we got to the entrance of the cave,
the kids were excited.
"Whoa! Is it really this big? It's huge!"
Most of us left our things there,
bags, shoes, everything.
Let's go.
We didn't bring any food or snacks there.
Each of us took a flashlight
and walked inside.
I asked Tee to lead
so I could be the last person.
Tee was my right-hand man.
I was more at ease with Tee by my side.
Because he'd be able
to take care of the other kids.
- Wow.
- Let's go.
I had been inside before.
- Come on, come on.
- Hold on.
I was confident I could lead them in.
We were only going to take about an hour.
Because I had a tutorial session later.
There was a ton of playing around.
We were teasing each other.
We were teasing Tee, mostly.
Because he had a girlfriend.
Like how he was taking pictures
and holding hands with her.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
They were teasing
each other the whole way.
I was happy seeing them that way.
- There are more places to hide ahead?
- Yes, there are.
When we got to the T-junction,
we couldn't turn right
because you couldn't go
more than a few meters...
...so, if we wanted
to continue, we had to go left.
I was scared
when we reached the T-junction.
It was like a stream.
I was afraid it would flood
and we wouldn't be able to get out.
No matter what season it is,
there's always water there.
It was never dry.
I told them
that there's a lot of water coming in.
Maybe we should turn back.
We told him if he wanted
to go back, to go back.
"Are you chicken? Chicken!"
I wanted everyone
to decide for themselves.
If they wanted to go back, they could.
It was very beautiful in there,
but we had to walk farther.
It was a vote to see
who wanted to stay or leave.
- Let's go. Let's go now.
- I want to go too.
Everyone else replied,
"Go, go. Let's keep going."
Deep down inside, I still wanted to leave.
I wanted to get out.
- Be careful.
- Let's go inside.
We left our bags and took off our shoes
because we didn't want
our stuff to get wet.
We brought our flashlights with us.
That's it. Then we continued on.
Hey, wait for me.
I had been working
at Tham Luang Cave for about two years.
Every evening, I had to go and see
if there was anyone left in the caves.
Normally, it only starts raining in July.
And it was only June!
I didn't know
where the rain was coming from.
From the front...
...the Tham Luang Cave is 10 kilometers
and 316 meters long.
So when the rainy seasons begins,
water flows down
from the mountains and floods the cave.
There are holes where the water
comes in from every direction.
I counted 11 bikes.
At first glance,
I thought they were adults.
If you go in
without the park rangers knowing at all,
you could get stuck in there
all night without anyone knowing.
We went in deeper and deeper...
...because it was so beautiful.
There was an aura pulling us in.
I wanted to take the kids
to see something beautiful.
I just thought that
I would show the kids something new.
It was beautiful. So beautiful.
It was like glitter.
It was stunning inside this large chamber.
Titan had to be back
before five because he had his tutor.
I said, "Hey, guys, let's turn back."
We were out of time.
We could come back another day.
Let's go.
So then we were all wading back,
and we were talking
and chatting like normal.
Until we got back to the T-junction.
Once we got to the T-junction,
I was like,
"Hey, is this the way we came?"
I said we weren't lost
because there was only one way out.
Eak said this was the way we came.
Water had completely flooded
the T-junction.
Completely covered it.
We couldn't get through.
At that moment, I thought, "Damn."
We were in deep trouble.
Everyone was shocked.
I told them we needed to find a way out.
I was going to search for the exit.
That's when I decided to dive.
I had a bad feeling.
Is Eak going to find a way out, or not?
I opened my eyes
but I couldn't see anything.
I tried to dig with my hands...
but I couldn't find a way through.
And then,
that one breath of air I took as I dove in
began to run out.
I felt like I was going to pass out.
And so as that happened,
I tugged on the rope...
One, two...
...and the boys began to pull me back out.
One more time.
I thought I was definitely going to die.
I wasn't going to survive
because I was completely out of air.
I told the boys...
that there was no way out.
When Eak told us that, we were silent.
We didn't know what to do.
Is there anybody in here?
At 5:00 or 6:00 p.m.,
they were still in the cave.
My boss organized two more people
to help me search for them.
- Where are you?
- Where are you?
We walked from the first chamber
to the second chamber.
We called out for them,
but didn't find them.
A lot of water was flooding in.
And they weren't in the third chamber.
And I was thinking we had
better find them at the T-junction.
Is anybody here?
But when we got there,
all we found were their bags and shoes.
I searched until I found their phones.
At that point, my heart sank.
They were just kids.
More water was coming in.
I said, "What are we supposed to do now?"
How do we get these kids out?
Where are you?
I was like,
"Come on, let's leave. Let's get help."
When I found out
the water level had risen,
I had to do whatever I could
to not frighten the kids.
So I tried to act as normal as possible.
I told the kids that
maybe it was like the tides.
I really believed
that the water would go down.
So I told them
to find somewhere to sleep.
We could check the water levels tomorrow.
We'd leave when the water goes down.
Two, three, yeah.
We were like, "It'll be fine."
We were thinking positive.
As for me,
I was late for my tutorial session.
I was secretly thinking,
"Awesome! No tutorial!"
No one was panicking yet.
To them, it was just a new place to sleep.
It was still part of the adventure.
On the first night, we were
only worried about getting yelled at.
Some of us hadn't told
our parents where we'd gone.
I was thinking my parents
were probably looking for me.
Trying to figure out where I had gone.
I get worried
when Tee is out with his friends.
I kept waiting and waiting,
but he didn't come home.
I thought
that Tee had gotten into a fight.
Then a kid at his school called
and said that Tee was stuck in a cave.
When my husband first
took me there, I thought it was scary.
When I went in,
I could see people gathering around.
Go down to the ridge.
Let me help.
Their shoes were at the entrance.
No one had moved anything.
My son's bicycle was there,
along with his bag.
I was so shocked.
It looked so desolate, and my heart
just sank when I saw the cave.
My heart clenched,
I just didn't know what to do...
...I could only pray to all
the sacred beings to help protect him.
I didn't know
that my son had gone to the cave.
Because this morning he told me
he was going to a football match.
That's what he said.
I didn't know that he would
come to a cave like this.
People were asking me things,
but all I could do was cry.
I couldn't answer at that point
because I was so upset.
During the first night,
we didn't turn off the flashlights.
It was too dark,
everyone would have been afraid.
We slept next to each other.
Holding each other.
It felt colder than ice,
it felt like the cold was biting us.
All we could hear was our breathing,
and the rhythmic beating of our hearts.
The first night, I was worried about
whether we would make it out...
and I was responsible for 12 other lives.
And we had no idea
what would happen to us next.
Our first story is about the incident
- that occurred last night.
- Right.
The cave flooded
and they couldn't get back out.
Even the authorities couldn't get to them.
Okay, count off.
- One.
- Two.
- Three.
- Four.
- Five.
- Six...
We've sent altogether eight teams.
You're asking how many people that is?
About 50 people.
They're lugging diving equipment, food...
Very few people, even cave explorers,
knew their way through Tham Luang Cave.
THAM LUANG MAP THAM LUANG
KHUN NAM NANG NON LEGEND
I'm a cave explorer
who knows Tham Luang Cave well.
On the first day of entering
the cave to search for the boys,
the T-junction was flooded.
The initial equipment
used in the rescue mission
consisted of a small water pump
and ropes and anything
we could get our hands on in the area.
Now it's time for the pumps
to do their job, to open up the trail.
We were fighting the water
with limited equipment
that wasn't really advanced enough
for pumping water.
When it started raining, it didn't stop.
With heavy rain,
it could flood and they could drown...
...I didn't think that they would be found.
If more rain doesn't come down...
and the water goes down,
we could pump then.
That would be good news.
I was happy when the governor arrived.
He said he would come
to tell us if there was any news.
He came to give us updates
around every one to two hours.
I hope only that they're okay and well,
and that there's no more rain.
We had to work
against time, against nature.
It's starting to fill up with water,
did you know that?
- Yesterday, the water wasn't this high.
- It's filling up.
- There's more water?
- Yeah.
We had to hurry because we knew
that even more water would be coming
from the back of the cave.
It was alarming
because if the two currents met,
it would flood
all the way to the cave mouth.
That was worrying.
The water was still there when we woke up.
I turned around
and the water was next to us.
It was so quick.
It was chasing us and chasing us.
I needed to find a solution.
I gathered the group
to figure out what to do next.
I told them,
"How about we find a way out farther in?"
I started telling the boys
to save their flashlights.
Use them sparingly.
I would constantly tell them
that we could not give up.
We were beginning to complain.
"Where the hell are the rescuers?"
"Why haven't they come to find us?
Why is there no help?"
Not enough people! Not enough people!
All clear.
Slowly. Be careful.
Titan, my son, I'm here waiting for you.
Let's go home, dear.
Come on, let's go home!
I felt that Titan
had to be able to hear me.
I really believed that
I could communicate with my son.
At least, I wanted him to know
I was waiting for him.
I didn't usually get back
from work until 7:00, 8:00, or 9:00 p.m.
That's how he became
more attached to Eak than to me.
I thought about Eak and how he's with Eak.
I thought, "Please, Eak,
you have to bring Titan out."
"I believe you can get him out."
Local spirit, please give
our boys the strength.
Calm down.
All the key agencies are arriving.
They are steadily being sent to help us.
Many different people showed up.
Doctors, nurses, soldiers,
forces from all over Thailand.
It was this that really moved me.
There are units surveying the area,
looking for possible ways to get inside.
The border police will do
a fly over in their helicopters
in case there's
some other way inside the cave.
2ND SPECIAL BATTALION,
5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP
As for the local officials,
forestry officials, and the military,
they'll be surveying the area
and plugging up any holes
where water might be flowing inside.
NAVY SEAL INSTRUCTOR
The SEALs are flying directly
from Sattahip, arriving at midnight.
I was the commander of the Navy SEALs.
It was a race against time,
and the rising water.
- Watch your feet.
- A bit more, one, two.
We urgently needed to pump the water out,
so our SEALs could find the boys
as quickly as possible.
The Thai Navy SEALs
are especially skilled at diving.
Initially, we were able
to reach the T-junction.
Then we tried to dive
beyond the T-junction.
When the water level rose,
we couldn't go in farther.
Tee set his alarm
for 6:00 a.m. every morning.
If we hadn't known the time,
it would have been more stressful.
We would have spent
the day without a plan.
I gave them a routine.
Morning till evening,
we would work on finding a way out.
Coach Eak always said there was a way out.
So we worked
on finding a way out every single day.
I had to stay positive
so that they wouldn't give up.
We'd walk until we got tired,
and by that time it was late.
Hunger was the only thing
I could think about.
Everyone started talking about food.
It was like hunger on top
of more hunger. It was freaking agony.
We wanted to eat everything
we could think of. Every single thing.
We wanted to order KFC.
"Would they deliver to us in here?"
we wondered.
The typical things
you'd think about when you're hungry.
One boy dreamt he was drinking
soy milk, his favorite drink.
He dreamt he was sucking on the straw.
But when he woke up,
he was actually sucking on Adul's toe.
I wanted to eat what we ate
at the football field that afternoon.
It was such a waste
because I ate so little.
If I'd known, I'd have eaten a lot more.
I dreamt I was eating with my family.
I hoped that if I got out,
I would be able to taste
my mom's cooking again.
When we didn't have a lot of money,
my mom would make
simple dishes for me to eat.
At home, we always had
pork rib and cabbage curry.
I really wanted to eat my mom's cooking.
All I could tell them was to drink water.
Do whatever we needed to survive.
Drinking water helped a little,
but we'd still be hungry.
We all started
to feel fatigued, no strength.
When I tried to get up, I would fall over.
I needed to do
whatever I could to protect them,
to make sure they're okay.
My parents died when I was young.
So I was ordained as a Buddhist novice,
so that I wouldn't burden my relatives.
I was ordained for over 10 years
before I left the monkhood.
Being ordained as a Buddhist novice
helped strengthen my mind and body.
If we get depressed,
our bodies will fall apart too.
But if we're mentally strong,
then our bodies will restore themselves.
Before we slept, we would pray,
ask for all things sacred to protect us.
He wanted us to pray
to Nang Non in the hopes of a miracle.
It would help us let go and feel calmer.
He wanted us to remain calm,
so that we didn't lose our heads.
So that if no one came to save us,
we wouldn't go crazy.
Just collecting ourselves in the moment.
We just breathed in and out
and prayed that we would survive.
The rain is falling hard.
And where I'm standing used to be
the lawn of this national park...
RESCUE MISSION FOR 13 LIVES, DAY 4
...now it's a sea of mud.
Every part of this operation is difficult.
I am hopeful. I want the kids
to come out safe.
All 13 of them.
People told me
to pray everywhere for the rain to stop,
for the Tham Luang spirits
to stop the rain.
To give us a chance to get the boys out.
Mark is a small boy.
And he's afraid of the dark.
We've been through a lot together.
Because I separated from his father
when he was about one.
I wondered if he would make it out alive.
I couldn't stand it, and I fainted.
It felt like I had lost my mind.
Are you feeling better?
Here, this is ammonia.
- Massage her.
- She has regained consciousness.
The water level
never went down, it kept going up.
So, we kept moving ahead
in hopes of finding a way out.
We'd reached a point where
it was really the farthest we could go.
We couldn't find an escape.
There was only darkness.
It was too much.
I wanted to see the light.
One of the boys in the group said,
"I can't take it anymore.
I'm exhausted. I want to go home!"
Hey, we're going to make it. Trust me.
The stress was building
and so was the hunger.
Like, we couldn't handle it anymore.
Everyone blamed themselves.
Like, we shouldn't have come.
Eak said, "Whoever wants to cry, cry.
Let it all out."
We wanted to see our parents.
We were hungry.
We were all telling each other,
like, we loved each other and stuff.
We were so stressed out.
I didn't think we were going to make it.
I kept telling them that whatever
happened to us, we must not break.
We have to help one another.
It was quiet for about five minutes.
We heard what sounded like a helicopter.
It sounded like
a helicopter flying over us.
I heard a boom,
like someone was doing something loud.
Like drilling or something.
Everyone was like, "Hey! Hey!"
Everyone had hope again.
From feeling down,
suddenly there was hope.
Was someone coming to rescue us?
Please help us!
I couldn't figure out
what was making those noises.
Was someone there?
Suddenly, we could hear
what sounded like water.
Like water pouring in.
I tried to see what was going on.
That's when I saw
a dark shadow coming towards us.
Like a tidal wave!
It was like a flash flood.
Once I saw it, I told everyone
to run for higher ground.
Everyone started scrambling,
pushing each other out of the way.
Eak was moments from being swept away.
If he hadn't jumped, he would have died.
It was loud.
Then, silence.
The water became still.
We ended up around
one of the highest points in the cave.
There was no way out.
And now the way in was completely flooded.
Water was rushing in and filling the cave.
You could hear the water hitting
the cave walls. Boom, boom, boom.
The water gushed out after us.
We were shocked. We had never seen
anything like this before.
As the water rose,
we retreated and retreated.
We had to start from square one
at the entrance of the cave.
It was depressing,
very depressing at the time.
We were cut off both ways.
Now we were left with no choice.
We were trapped.
There was nowhere else to go.
We hoped that the water would stop there.
Please don't let
the water rise any farther.
I started imagining that if we died,
it would be from drowning.
I felt like that was
how we were going to die.
I was really worried
because my mother lost one child already.
I didn't want her to be sad ever again.
Tle is a sensitive kid.
He likes to have his parents spoil him,
since he's an only child.
I had to hug him when he slept.
The three of us
always slept in the same bed.
As for me, I blamed my fate.
I thought
maybe I had a lot of karma to repay,
because I didn't get
to raise my first child.
And if I lost this child too,
I didn't think I could go on.
I blamed myself.
I took them there.
I'm the one responsible for this.
I didn't want anyone to suffer a loss.
It is very painful to lose a loved one.
When I was six years old,
my little brother passed away.
And my mom, she couldn't get over it.
So she died, too.
And not too long after that, my father
started to get sick and he passed away.
If someone died...
I wouldn't know how to...
How to face... How to face their families.
I wouldn't know how to cope
or how to tell them
that I brought their sons in here to die.
We were trapped.
The only thing left to do
was to climb up and dig our way out.
I had no idea how thick it actually was.
I thought if we all dug,
we would get through.
We took turns digging in shifts.
If there was nothing for the kids to do,
they would start imagining the worst.
And then the group
would start to break apart for sure.
- Let's help each other.
- Come on. Move that.
Come help me.
We worked together.
It was teamwork,
like when we played football.
You can't play football
by yourself, right?
We all have to play it together.
We were a team.
We would win or lose together.
- Hey, slow down.
- Go forward.
And the kids asked me
how much farther I thought it was.
- So, I said about five meters.
- Everyone believed it. All of us.
I imagined
it might lead us to the orange farm.
Once we dug through,
we'd eat some stranger's oranges.
Would we get scolded?
Would the owner throw us out?
We thoroughly planned it out.
Once we got out
and found the orange farm,
there was a small store.
We'd get something to eat there.
And collect our bikes
at the entrance of the cave.
Then bike home together.
We kept digging, kept going.
Some of us were wishing that an asteroid
would come and hit the cave.
Boom!
Once it made impact, then we could leave.
When the kids began
to joke around, it helped a bit.
Someone asked, "If a naked girl was here,
what would you do?"
Adul said, "I'm tired...
I'd make her freaking dig!"
Everyone was laughing so hard.
We thought
he was going to say something else.
Oh, man! So many funny things.
But the mood wasn't funny. It was tense.
It was our last hope.
It was our only way out.
Twelve youth soccer players
and their coach are missing.
LOOKING FOR MISSING CHILDREN
IN THAM LUANG CAVE
Yesterday, we said every minute counts.
Today, every half a minute,
every ten seconds counts for the boys.
But we're losing
our battle against the water.
And today we have experts.
They're cave-diving experts,
coming from all over the world.
There were many groups
working on this operation.
There were all together 8,000 people.
Divers from America, Australia, and China.
The cave was dark and complex.
So, we laid down a guide rope.
The first group would dive
and place a line as they go.
When they got to the end, they'd return.
The next group would place
another line from there and continue on.
We needed to keep going.
We had to find the children.
We had to get the boys out of the cave.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh day.
They were all the same.
It was dark and our
flashlight batteries were running out.
We started to stress out about that.
Without our flashlights,
we couldn't do or see anything.
This was how we lived.
Dig, sit, drink water. That was it.
If we did nothing,
we would simply be waiting for death.
By digging,
there was a chance we would survive.
As we dug, everyone could hear sounds.
There were sounds of children playing.
I heard a rooster
and some of the younger boys heard dogs.
We didn't know where they came from.
We just heard them.
All our brains were glitching.
Are you okay? Let's go. Hey.
We comforted each other.
If anyone wasn't feeling good,
an older kid
would comfort the younger kid.
I kept saying to the boys
that someone would definitely rescue us.
That we would survive and not die there.
Tee would console me. He gave me hope.
I had to make sure that they all survived.
We brought them in here.
We had to get them out alive.
I missed my mom.
I missed everyone in my family.
Some of the boys
slept next to me on my arms.
When we slept holding each other...
it felt like
I was hugging my family. It felt good.
I couldn't sleep at all.
I talked to my husband.
What would we do if he died?
I hadn't eaten
anything for about five days.
I'm only worried about my son.
I wonder what he's doing right now.
- How have you been the past few days?
- Stressed.
Do you want to say anything?
I want to see my son soon.
I refused to sleep.
People wanted me to sleep.
They gave me medicine.
But I refused to take it.
I didn't want it.
I was afraid my son
would come out and I'd miss him.
- Do you still have hope?
- Fifty-fifty...
I was really down
the day people came to ask me,
"If your son died,
how will you afford the funeral?"
I was crushed.
I pray that no matter what
we find the kids, dead or alive.
I hope we get
to at least see their bodies.
I have to tell you,
so far using science hasn't yet yielded
anything. The locals here are worried.
Today, they invited Phra Khuva Boonchum,
who's a very respected monk
in Chiang Rai Province.
He has come to conduct a forgiveness
and "release" ceremony for the spirit...
A ceremony to open
the way inside the cave.
Venerable Monk Phra Khuva Boonchum came
to free the spirit and spread compassion.
According to legend,
Venerable Monk Boonchum
was Nang Non's soulmate in his past life.
It had rained the entire day
before the Venerable Monk arrived.
The moment he arrived,
the rain stopped. It just stopped.
Khuva meditated and said
the boys were all
still together and alive.
I stopped crying after Khuva came
because I believed that my son was okay.
I believed that he was safe
and that made me very happy.
- Let's go. All set.
- Turn right to go out.
Turn right.
My prayers go out to the boys
who went missing last week.
Everyone was praying for them,
all across the world.
Let's pray for the children
who have been missing for the past week.
It was a massive karmic force.
Not just from Thailand,
but the whole world.
By the ninth day,
no one had any energy left.
We were somewhere between life and death.
Eak dug the most out of all of us.
He wanted to get us out of there.
Eak dug until his hands bled.
I was falling apart.
As I was digging, I secretly cried.
If one of the boys saw,
they would feel weak too.
I was scared of people forgetting us.
Like, "Those 13 kids
probably haven't made it."
"Let's forget about them."
My friends were deteriorating.
We hugged each other,
ready to give up. Like, if we die, we die.
Some of the kids said
we could eat the first person who dies.
Whoever died could feed their friends.
For their friends' survival.
That night, as we laid down to sleep,
we started saying,
"If tomorrow we don't dig our way out...
We're done."
My body couldn't take it anymore.
I just laid there,
curled up, hugging myself.
Our brains were shutting down.
Everyone said...
"I think this is our last day."
We were afraid we were dying.
The flashlights were nearly dead.
Eak told us
to just turn the flashlights off.
Just be with ourselves.
Suddenly, I heard a sound.
It sounded like bubbles.
Then I heard it again.
I heard someone saying, "Hello?"
Hello?
There was this energy that woke me.
Feelings of hunger
and exhaustion disappeared.
We were stunned.
We were like,
"Go down, hurry, before they leave."
I was right up front. I almost fell
in the water as I jumped down.
I cried. I was crying.
We were so happy
that someone had come to rescue us.
I don't know how to describe it.
We were overjoyed.
At last, someone had come to help us.
- Tell them we are hungry.
- I told them twice. They said they know.
He had a chocolate bar on him.
"Should we ask him for it? Should we?"
And no one dared ask him for it.
It was freaking hilarious.
I was proud. So proud of the boys.
If they hadn't been so strong-willed,
or if they hadn't been physically strong,
I don't think they would have
lasted long enough for help to arrive.
Okay, thank you.
They said we should wait here.
The divers told us we had to wait.
A group of Thai divers were coming.
I was so confused.
I thought the foreigners
were going to get us out.
But I didn't know where they went.
We heard cheering at around 10:00 p.m.
We quickly came down
to see what was happening.
BIGKREN
We were so happy.
We jumped up and hugged each other.
He's coming home.
We felt alive again.
As if the heavens had opened up.
I felt relieved
like a flower that had blossomed.
I was so happy.
It was the happiest I'd ever felt.
There will be a press conference.
We found the 13 children. They are safe.
MISSING THAI BOYS MIRACULOUSLY FOUND ALIVE
They were found alive today,
after having been missing for 10 days.
That evening, we were in a party mood.
We were happy.
We hugged each other and sang.
We weren't stressed out anymore.
I wasn't afraid anymore.
I'd been under so much pressure.
But now, it was like
a mountain had been lifted off me.
We survived!
Everything we did was worth it.
The only thing left to think about was,
what was going to happen to me
when I got out.
- Overall, is everyone still healthy?
- Still healthy.
Their emotional well-being...
Have you brought in counselors for them?
Right now, it will be
the SEALs going in first.
To take care of their safety.
Let's help move the tanks.
The next thing we knew,
we could hear the rescue team arriving.
They were like,
"You know, you're world-famous, right?"
We were all thinking to ourselves,
"What? Really?"
We were just some rural kids.
"World-famous?"
We didn't believe them.
I thought we were finally going to eat.
That's all I thought about.
The food was coming.
That's all I was interested in.
That day, we got to have
some power gel to give us energy.
Everyone was a little disappointed.
We didn't get to fill our stomachs.
We were just eating to survive.
Once they came,
I was like, "How do we get out?"
The water still hadn't gone down.
But they seemed unsure.
They said they would let us know.
One group stayed with us in the cave.
Four officers stayed behind.
Who's that?
The one with the dark blue shirt?
That's Ae's kid.
Titan! Titan lying down.
It made me cry seeing our son so skinny.
- I could barely recognize him.
- He was all bones.
But we were so lucky he was safe.
We found the children.
We were happy momentarily,
but there was another challenge ahead.
The next step was to figure out
a way to extract the boys from the cave.
We thought of several options.
I went as far as to consider
waiting for the water
to completely subside,
which would have taken four months.
In the meantime,
we could send in food and water.
I was shocked...
when I heard that they were going
to make us wait for the water to subside
or for the rainy season to be over.
Why did we have to wait that long?
We felt discouraged.
We had to inform the parents.
They needed to accept the risks involved.
There was a chance
that some of the boys would die.
Staying was risky,
coming out was also risky.
They told me I had to sign a consent form.
If I didn't sign,
they couldn't take them out.
If we waited for the rainy season to pass,
it would have taken three or four months.
Our chances would have gone down to zero.
But if we took a risk, it would at least
be 50-50, which were better odds.
We had to decide right away.
It was a very hard decision.
I decided that, fine, I'd sign it.
But while I was signing,
I felt really conflicted.
I was scared
even though they tried to reassure us.
I was still scared.
I was scared he wouldn't make it out.
They were talking about it
as if diving would be something fun...
to not stress the kids out.
I wanted to dive.
We were ready. It was exciting!
We really wanted to do it.
We didn't know it was that risky.
We were just kids.
We just wanted to get out.
That's all we thought about.
We needed to travel a long distance.
When we went in...
we'd use the oxygen we had on us.
But on the way back,
we'd have to use tanks that we had placed
along the way, to replace the empty ones.
The starting point
is only 300 meters from here.
And there's a point
where the water rushes in.
We have to dive through it.
Please, wait for tomorrow's update.
We can do it.
We're team...
The SEALs team. We never back down.
His name was Petty Officer Saman Gunan.
He worked
at the SEALs unit for many years.
That day, he volunteered...
...to place the oxygen tanks inside.
On his way out...
he fell unconscious.
He didn't regain consciousness.
I found out in the morning.
I messaged someone in his unit.
He...
He confirmed that he died.
I just saw him.
That day, they sent him on a plane.
And I was...
calling out his name.
I was constantly calling for him.
I tried to tell myself
that it wasn't true. It wasn't real.
The mission at the cave still needed to
go ahead because the children were inside.
This, I understood.
PETTY OFFICER SAMAN GUNAN
BORN 23 DECEMBER 1980 DIED 6 JULY 2018
We could still breathe
but it was getting harder.
They said the oxygen levels were dropping.
I was extremely worried
about what to do if they ran out of air.
And more rain
was coming in the next week.
That could make it riskier.
Today, we're at peak readiness.
Today we have our D-Day.
This was the world's first
extraction method of its kind.
The boys thought, once they got out,
they'd bike to their own homes and eat.
I asked to be the last person to leave.
The British divers would be responsible
for delivering the boys
to us in the third chamber.
As for our part, we planned the operation
from the third chamber
to the front of that cave.
From the third chamber,
we used about 200 people.
Be careful.
The army, left and right.
Right first.
I was the second person to leave.
They injected me like this.
It hurt so much.
I blacked out.
The first group was the riskiest.
We hoped for a miracle.
Slowly.
The rescue workers
were quiet as they walked out.
As if maybe the kids hadn't survived.
It was completely silent.
Through these 16 days of waiting,
today, we saw,
for the first time,
the face of one of the Wild Boars!
I was ecstatic.
FOURTH MEMBER OF THE WILD BOARS
BEING TAKEN TO HOSPITAL
The first ones went tremendously well.
The first day was unbelievable.
We could do this.
As it turns out,
on the last day, the plan changed.
I was told I would be the first out.
I was like, "What?"
They said they wanted
the biggest to go out first.
That's when I started to worry.
I thought that if I got out,
the parents
would wonder why I left the boys.
I would be in deep trouble.
I was still worried about how
I was going to clear
things up with the parents.
I sat on Dr. Harris's lap.
Right as our eyes met,
the needle went into my leg, like "shoop."
That's when I thanked him.
And asked him to take care of the boys
and I told him I'd see them outside.
It was lonely. I was the only one left.
I didn't have any friends
to cheer me up, to wish me a safe journey.
So I was like, "Never mind."
I thought the last guy out
was the coolest one.
He's the one who ends the story.
The last person was Mark.
I thought that it didn't matter
if he was last, as long as he was safe.
When I woke up,
it felt like I had been born again.
I was lying there naked.
And everyone took great care of me.
Like I was a newborn.
I was so happy.
Extremely happy. I can't describe it.
The hero this time
is everyone in the world.
We have done something nobody thought
we could, for the first time on Earth.
This is our pride.
This is Mission Possible.
He's coming here
right now, Coach Eak. Coach Eak!
It was a miracle that everybody survived.
As many of the parents walked in,
I thought to myself,
"Whatever happens, happens."
I mentally prepared myself
for whatever it was going to be.
He said when they slept,
they would hold hands.
When I heard that, I felt
all of them were like my own children.
They really loved each other.
Some people attacked him for this or that.
But we consider him part of our family.
Nobody wanted this to happen.
When they came in,
they told me to be brave.
Don't worry about anything.
Everyone understands.
Once I heard that, I was like, "Oh, okay."
All my worries melted away.
When I saw my mom
for the first time, I felt shocked.
I wanted to get down
and walk over to her, but I couldn't,
because I still didn't have
any strength in my legs.
And so my mom had to run in and hug me.
The first thing I saw
was my parents crying.
They were tears of joy.
They were relieved that I got out safely.
I gave him a hug and said,
"Tee, you have to let me know where you go
from now on. I love you, Tee."
I was ecstatic.
We jumped into each other's arms
and we were so happy.
It's a moment
that I've kept with me to this day.
When I saw their faces, I cried.
I thought, "Am I dreaming?"
Tle said he thought
he'd never see us again...
and when he said that,
I felt such a pang in my heart.
I couldn't speak.
Then they brought us
a picture of Sergeant Sam.
We went quiet. We were just stunned.
He came to rescue us, but he
didn't get to come back out with us.
Why did someone have to die for us?
When I saw the children,
I was just so proud
of what my husband did.
What he did was a success.
I never blamed them because I understand
no one wished
for something like this to happen.
I want them to live normal lives
and follow their dreams
like every other kid.
Continue chasing their dreams.
I don't think of myself
as a celebrity or anything.
I was just a kid who got stuck in a cave
and became famous
thanks to the people who came to help us.
When this thing happened, I had to adjust.
I had to be more polite.
So when people see me they'd be glad
to see we are good kids,
that they had rescued good kids.
I can't just do whatever I want any more.
I have to be a good kid now,
try to do well in school,
and not let other people down,
because they rescued us.
Thank you for giving me
moral support to this day.
Never give up.
Wild Boars!
Wild Boars!
When I think about
how many people came to help us,
I don't know how
I could ever repay this debt.
If I were to try,
this entire lifetime would not be enough.
Hold the position. Down! Up!
Down! Up!
Again?
- Can we go now? Can we go now?
- I don't care!
Titan, don't let a younger kid beat you.
- Overtake him.
- Come on.
Titan, go faster.
That was the last one.
Okay, send one person out.
There's absolutely no pressure
for today's interview.
You don't need to answer
any questions you don't want to answer.
There are no right or wrong answers.
The most important thing
for us is your wellbeing.
- We can stop at any time.
- Okay.
The outside world probably doesn't know,
has absolutely no idea
what it was like for us.
Maybe the truth is not what people expect.
Titan, stick close to the side.
Be careful.
That day, we met up to play football.
Hey!
- They might bite.
- Let's go!
So many dogs!
Next. Next person, go!
I'm Eakapol Jantawong. My nickname is Eak.
There's only one jump, okay?
To be a coach, firstly,
you must be a leader.
Two, you must have discipline.
This is a must.
Look at your teammates too.
And you must be passionate about it.
Look at the positions
of your teammates, okay?
Two passes only, okay?
No more than three touches.
All right. Forward.
Dom, come in, come in. Titan.
- Can you go forward?
- Let's go.
The school kids around here,
most of them are probably
in scooter gangs, drinking and smoking.
This football team was created
to keep them away from drugs.
Follow him.
Most of them come
from pretty poor families.
Get in there, get in there.
I want to be a pro footballer
and play on the national team.
Watch out for your opponents.
Hey, defense. Somebody mark him.
I like Man-U.
Manchester United.
Man-U.
Coach Eak makes sure we are diligent.
We train hard.
It won't work, Mix. Pass it back.
I push them hard
so they can qualify for soccer academies.
So that they can receive scholarships
to study for free.
Come on, come on, it's break time.
I was 24 at the time.
When we're off the field,
I'm more like a big brother.
Come on.
Even though we are not blood-related,
we hang out together like family.
The top team from the North
battles the top team from the South!
Score? 2-0.
Our plan after practice
was to go to the cave.
City kids have malls to go to on weekends.
But for the kids from the country,
all they have are mountains
and forests to explore.
The most exciting adventure
would've been to go to Tham Luang Cave.
I'd been there many times before.
After we finished playing,
we had a few bites.
I bought 10 sticks of grilled pork
and a kilo of rice.
I couldn't finish it, so I threw it away.
Chew the sticky rice.
Have some, have some.
Hey.
All set. Hurry and get ready.
- Let's go, let's go.
- Come on, let's go.
We finished eating...
- Let's go.
- Come on.
...and biked over to Tham Luang.
- Be careful.
- Hurry up.
- Wait for me.
- I'm coming too. Let's go.
Me too. Wait for me.
What?
Follow me. Come on.
That day, it wasn't rainy at all.
It was sunny and hot.
Let's go, let's go, let's go!
Some of them were excited
because it would have been
their first time in a cave.
- Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!
- Let's do this!
They were pedaling
at full speed, racing their hearts out!
And of course, as always, I got ditched.
I'm so tired.
Titan was the youngest.
Whoever sees him,
can't resist teasing him.
Not a single day
went by without the teasing.
I got it every day.
Titan's strengths?
I don't think he has any.
Titan and I are really close.
We're like brothers.
On the way, we passed by orange groves
on both sides of the road.
Come on, go pray to the local spirit.
- Hurry, let's go take a look over there.
- Let's go.
- Hurry up.
- Hey, let's go.
We got to the cave and saw the sign,
the kids were like, "We can't go in."
The sign said it flooded
from July to November.
When we went into the cave,
it was June 23rd.
It wasn't the rainy season yet.
We asked the Nang Non spirit
for permission to enter.
Nang Non is the local spirit.
If we disrespected her
or didn't ask for permission,
something bad could happen.
There's a history
behind the Nang Non spirit.
She was a princess.
There was a stable boy
who was in love with the princess.
So they eloped.
The soldiers chased them.
The stable boy went
to find food for the princess...
but he was killed by the soldiers.
The princess waited,
but he never returned.
So she killed herself with a hair pin.
That's why this mountain range
looks like the sleeping princess.
- Let's get the bikes.
- Let's go into the cave.
- Hurry up.
- Come on.
- Wow.
- I see, that's why...
When we got to the entrance of the cave,
the kids were excited.
"Whoa! Is it really this big? It's huge!"
Most of us left our things there,
bags, shoes, everything.
Let's go.
We didn't bring any food or snacks there.
Each of us took a flashlight
and walked inside.
I asked Tee to lead
so I could be the last person.
Tee was my right-hand man.
I was more at ease with Tee by my side.
Because he'd be able
to take care of the other kids.
- Wow.
- Let's go.
I had been inside before.
- Come on, come on.
- Hold on.
I was confident I could lead them in.
We were only going to take about an hour.
Because I had a tutorial session later.
There was a ton of playing around.
We were teasing each other.
We were teasing Tee, mostly.
Because he had a girlfriend.
Like how he was taking pictures
and holding hands with her.
Let's go, let's go, let's go.
They were teasing
each other the whole way.
I was happy seeing them that way.
- There are more places to hide ahead?
- Yes, there are.
When we got to the T-junction,
we couldn't turn right
because you couldn't go
more than a few meters...
...so, if we wanted
to continue, we had to go left.
I was scared
when we reached the T-junction.
It was like a stream.
I was afraid it would flood
and we wouldn't be able to get out.
No matter what season it is,
there's always water there.
It was never dry.
I told them
that there's a lot of water coming in.
Maybe we should turn back.
We told him if he wanted
to go back, to go back.
"Are you chicken? Chicken!"
I wanted everyone
to decide for themselves.
If they wanted to go back, they could.
It was very beautiful in there,
but we had to walk farther.
It was a vote to see
who wanted to stay or leave.
- Let's go. Let's go now.
- I want to go too.
Everyone else replied,
"Go, go. Let's keep going."
Deep down inside, I still wanted to leave.
I wanted to get out.
- Be careful.
- Let's go inside.
We left our bags and took off our shoes
because we didn't want
our stuff to get wet.
We brought our flashlights with us.
That's it. Then we continued on.
Hey, wait for me.
I had been working
at Tham Luang Cave for about two years.
Every evening, I had to go and see
if there was anyone left in the caves.
Normally, it only starts raining in July.
And it was only June!
I didn't know
where the rain was coming from.
From the front...
...the Tham Luang Cave is 10 kilometers
and 316 meters long.
So when the rainy seasons begins,
water flows down
from the mountains and floods the cave.
There are holes where the water
comes in from every direction.
I counted 11 bikes.
At first glance,
I thought they were adults.
If you go in
without the park rangers knowing at all,
you could get stuck in there
all night without anyone knowing.
We went in deeper and deeper...
...because it was so beautiful.
There was an aura pulling us in.
I wanted to take the kids
to see something beautiful.
I just thought that
I would show the kids something new.
It was beautiful. So beautiful.
It was like glitter.
It was stunning inside this large chamber.
Titan had to be back
before five because he had his tutor.
I said, "Hey, guys, let's turn back."
We were out of time.
We could come back another day.
Let's go.
So then we were all wading back,
and we were talking
and chatting like normal.
Until we got back to the T-junction.
Once we got to the T-junction,
I was like,
"Hey, is this the way we came?"
I said we weren't lost
because there was only one way out.
Eak said this was the way we came.
Water had completely flooded
the T-junction.
Completely covered it.
We couldn't get through.
At that moment, I thought, "Damn."
We were in deep trouble.
Everyone was shocked.
I told them we needed to find a way out.
I was going to search for the exit.
That's when I decided to dive.
I had a bad feeling.
Is Eak going to find a way out, or not?
I opened my eyes
but I couldn't see anything.
I tried to dig with my hands...
but I couldn't find a way through.
And then,
that one breath of air I took as I dove in
began to run out.
I felt like I was going to pass out.
And so as that happened,
I tugged on the rope...
One, two...
...and the boys began to pull me back out.
One more time.
I thought I was definitely going to die.
I wasn't going to survive
because I was completely out of air.
I told the boys...
that there was no way out.
When Eak told us that, we were silent.
We didn't know what to do.
Is there anybody in here?
At 5:00 or 6:00 p.m.,
they were still in the cave.
My boss organized two more people
to help me search for them.
- Where are you?
- Where are you?
We walked from the first chamber
to the second chamber.
We called out for them,
but didn't find them.
A lot of water was flooding in.
And they weren't in the third chamber.
And I was thinking we had
better find them at the T-junction.
Is anybody here?
But when we got there,
all we found were their bags and shoes.
I searched until I found their phones.
At that point, my heart sank.
They were just kids.
More water was coming in.
I said, "What are we supposed to do now?"
How do we get these kids out?
Where are you?
I was like,
"Come on, let's leave. Let's get help."
When I found out
the water level had risen,
I had to do whatever I could
to not frighten the kids.
So I tried to act as normal as possible.
I told the kids that
maybe it was like the tides.
I really believed
that the water would go down.
So I told them
to find somewhere to sleep.
We could check the water levels tomorrow.
We'd leave when the water goes down.
Two, three, yeah.
We were like, "It'll be fine."
We were thinking positive.
As for me,
I was late for my tutorial session.
I was secretly thinking,
"Awesome! No tutorial!"
No one was panicking yet.
To them, it was just a new place to sleep.
It was still part of the adventure.
On the first night, we were
only worried about getting yelled at.
Some of us hadn't told
our parents where we'd gone.
I was thinking my parents
were probably looking for me.
Trying to figure out where I had gone.
I get worried
when Tee is out with his friends.
I kept waiting and waiting,
but he didn't come home.
I thought
that Tee had gotten into a fight.
Then a kid at his school called
and said that Tee was stuck in a cave.
When my husband first
took me there, I thought it was scary.
When I went in,
I could see people gathering around.
Go down to the ridge.
Let me help.
Their shoes were at the entrance.
No one had moved anything.
My son's bicycle was there,
along with his bag.
I was so shocked.
It looked so desolate, and my heart
just sank when I saw the cave.
My heart clenched,
I just didn't know what to do...
...I could only pray to all
the sacred beings to help protect him.
I didn't know
that my son had gone to the cave.
Because this morning he told me
he was going to a football match.
That's what he said.
I didn't know that he would
come to a cave like this.
People were asking me things,
but all I could do was cry.
I couldn't answer at that point
because I was so upset.
During the first night,
we didn't turn off the flashlights.
It was too dark,
everyone would have been afraid.
We slept next to each other.
Holding each other.
It felt colder than ice,
it felt like the cold was biting us.
All we could hear was our breathing,
and the rhythmic beating of our hearts.
The first night, I was worried about
whether we would make it out...
and I was responsible for 12 other lives.
And we had no idea
what would happen to us next.
Our first story is about the incident
- that occurred last night.
- Right.
The cave flooded
and they couldn't get back out.
Even the authorities couldn't get to them.
Okay, count off.
- One.
- Two.
- Three.
- Four.
- Five.
- Six...
We've sent altogether eight teams.
You're asking how many people that is?
About 50 people.
They're lugging diving equipment, food...
Very few people, even cave explorers,
knew their way through Tham Luang Cave.
THAM LUANG MAP THAM LUANG
KHUN NAM NANG NON LEGEND
I'm a cave explorer
who knows Tham Luang Cave well.
On the first day of entering
the cave to search for the boys,
the T-junction was flooded.
The initial equipment
used in the rescue mission
consisted of a small water pump
and ropes and anything
we could get our hands on in the area.
Now it's time for the pumps
to do their job, to open up the trail.
We were fighting the water
with limited equipment
that wasn't really advanced enough
for pumping water.
When it started raining, it didn't stop.
With heavy rain,
it could flood and they could drown...
...I didn't think that they would be found.
If more rain doesn't come down...
and the water goes down,
we could pump then.
That would be good news.
I was happy when the governor arrived.
He said he would come
to tell us if there was any news.
He came to give us updates
around every one to two hours.
I hope only that they're okay and well,
and that there's no more rain.
We had to work
against time, against nature.
It's starting to fill up with water,
did you know that?
- Yesterday, the water wasn't this high.
- It's filling up.
- There's more water?
- Yeah.
We had to hurry because we knew
that even more water would be coming
from the back of the cave.
It was alarming
because if the two currents met,
it would flood
all the way to the cave mouth.
That was worrying.
The water was still there when we woke up.
I turned around
and the water was next to us.
It was so quick.
It was chasing us and chasing us.
I needed to find a solution.
I gathered the group
to figure out what to do next.
I told them,
"How about we find a way out farther in?"
I started telling the boys
to save their flashlights.
Use them sparingly.
I would constantly tell them
that we could not give up.
We were beginning to complain.
"Where the hell are the rescuers?"
"Why haven't they come to find us?
Why is there no help?"
Not enough people! Not enough people!
All clear.
Slowly. Be careful.
Titan, my son, I'm here waiting for you.
Let's go home, dear.
Come on, let's go home!
I felt that Titan
had to be able to hear me.
I really believed that
I could communicate with my son.
At least, I wanted him to know
I was waiting for him.
I didn't usually get back
from work until 7:00, 8:00, or 9:00 p.m.
That's how he became
more attached to Eak than to me.
I thought about Eak and how he's with Eak.
I thought, "Please, Eak,
you have to bring Titan out."
"I believe you can get him out."
Local spirit, please give
our boys the strength.
Calm down.
All the key agencies are arriving.
They are steadily being sent to help us.
Many different people showed up.
Doctors, nurses, soldiers,
forces from all over Thailand.
It was this that really moved me.
There are units surveying the area,
looking for possible ways to get inside.
The border police will do
a fly over in their helicopters
in case there's
some other way inside the cave.
2ND SPECIAL BATTALION,
5TH SPECIAL FORCES GROUP
As for the local officials,
forestry officials, and the military,
they'll be surveying the area
and plugging up any holes
where water might be flowing inside.
NAVY SEAL INSTRUCTOR
The SEALs are flying directly
from Sattahip, arriving at midnight.
I was the commander of the Navy SEALs.
It was a race against time,
and the rising water.
- Watch your feet.
- A bit more, one, two.
We urgently needed to pump the water out,
so our SEALs could find the boys
as quickly as possible.
The Thai Navy SEALs
are especially skilled at diving.
Initially, we were able
to reach the T-junction.
Then we tried to dive
beyond the T-junction.
When the water level rose,
we couldn't go in farther.
Tee set his alarm
for 6:00 a.m. every morning.
If we hadn't known the time,
it would have been more stressful.
We would have spent
the day without a plan.
I gave them a routine.
Morning till evening,
we would work on finding a way out.
Coach Eak always said there was a way out.
So we worked
on finding a way out every single day.
I had to stay positive
so that they wouldn't give up.
We'd walk until we got tired,
and by that time it was late.
Hunger was the only thing
I could think about.
Everyone started talking about food.
It was like hunger on top
of more hunger. It was freaking agony.
We wanted to eat everything
we could think of. Every single thing.
We wanted to order KFC.
"Would they deliver to us in here?"
we wondered.
The typical things
you'd think about when you're hungry.
One boy dreamt he was drinking
soy milk, his favorite drink.
He dreamt he was sucking on the straw.
But when he woke up,
he was actually sucking on Adul's toe.
I wanted to eat what we ate
at the football field that afternoon.
It was such a waste
because I ate so little.
If I'd known, I'd have eaten a lot more.
I dreamt I was eating with my family.
I hoped that if I got out,
I would be able to taste
my mom's cooking again.
When we didn't have a lot of money,
my mom would make
simple dishes for me to eat.
At home, we always had
pork rib and cabbage curry.
I really wanted to eat my mom's cooking.
All I could tell them was to drink water.
Do whatever we needed to survive.
Drinking water helped a little,
but we'd still be hungry.
We all started
to feel fatigued, no strength.
When I tried to get up, I would fall over.
I needed to do
whatever I could to protect them,
to make sure they're okay.
My parents died when I was young.
So I was ordained as a Buddhist novice,
so that I wouldn't burden my relatives.
I was ordained for over 10 years
before I left the monkhood.
Being ordained as a Buddhist novice
helped strengthen my mind and body.
If we get depressed,
our bodies will fall apart too.
But if we're mentally strong,
then our bodies will restore themselves.
Before we slept, we would pray,
ask for all things sacred to protect us.
He wanted us to pray
to Nang Non in the hopes of a miracle.
It would help us let go and feel calmer.
He wanted us to remain calm,
so that we didn't lose our heads.
So that if no one came to save us,
we wouldn't go crazy.
Just collecting ourselves in the moment.
We just breathed in and out
and prayed that we would survive.
The rain is falling hard.
And where I'm standing used to be
the lawn of this national park...
RESCUE MISSION FOR 13 LIVES, DAY 4
...now it's a sea of mud.
Every part of this operation is difficult.
I am hopeful. I want the kids
to come out safe.
All 13 of them.
People told me
to pray everywhere for the rain to stop,
for the Tham Luang spirits
to stop the rain.
To give us a chance to get the boys out.
Mark is a small boy.
And he's afraid of the dark.
We've been through a lot together.
Because I separated from his father
when he was about one.
I wondered if he would make it out alive.
I couldn't stand it, and I fainted.
It felt like I had lost my mind.
Are you feeling better?
Here, this is ammonia.
- Massage her.
- She has regained consciousness.
The water level
never went down, it kept going up.
So, we kept moving ahead
in hopes of finding a way out.
We'd reached a point where
it was really the farthest we could go.
We couldn't find an escape.
There was only darkness.
It was too much.
I wanted to see the light.
One of the boys in the group said,
"I can't take it anymore.
I'm exhausted. I want to go home!"
Hey, we're going to make it. Trust me.
The stress was building
and so was the hunger.
Like, we couldn't handle it anymore.
Everyone blamed themselves.
Like, we shouldn't have come.
Eak said, "Whoever wants to cry, cry.
Let it all out."
We wanted to see our parents.
We were hungry.
We were all telling each other,
like, we loved each other and stuff.
We were so stressed out.
I didn't think we were going to make it.
I kept telling them that whatever
happened to us, we must not break.
We have to help one another.
It was quiet for about five minutes.
We heard what sounded like a helicopter.
It sounded like
a helicopter flying over us.
I heard a boom,
like someone was doing something loud.
Like drilling or something.
Everyone was like, "Hey! Hey!"
Everyone had hope again.
From feeling down,
suddenly there was hope.
Was someone coming to rescue us?
Please help us!
I couldn't figure out
what was making those noises.
Was someone there?
Suddenly, we could hear
what sounded like water.
Like water pouring in.
I tried to see what was going on.
That's when I saw
a dark shadow coming towards us.
Like a tidal wave!
It was like a flash flood.
Once I saw it, I told everyone
to run for higher ground.
Everyone started scrambling,
pushing each other out of the way.
Eak was moments from being swept away.
If he hadn't jumped, he would have died.
It was loud.
Then, silence.
The water became still.
We ended up around
one of the highest points in the cave.
There was no way out.
And now the way in was completely flooded.
Water was rushing in and filling the cave.
You could hear the water hitting
the cave walls. Boom, boom, boom.
The water gushed out after us.
We were shocked. We had never seen
anything like this before.
As the water rose,
we retreated and retreated.
We had to start from square one
at the entrance of the cave.
It was depressing,
very depressing at the time.
We were cut off both ways.
Now we were left with no choice.
We were trapped.
There was nowhere else to go.
We hoped that the water would stop there.
Please don't let
the water rise any farther.
I started imagining that if we died,
it would be from drowning.
I felt like that was
how we were going to die.
I was really worried
because my mother lost one child already.
I didn't want her to be sad ever again.
Tle is a sensitive kid.
He likes to have his parents spoil him,
since he's an only child.
I had to hug him when he slept.
The three of us
always slept in the same bed.
As for me, I blamed my fate.
I thought
maybe I had a lot of karma to repay,
because I didn't get
to raise my first child.
And if I lost this child too,
I didn't think I could go on.
I blamed myself.
I took them there.
I'm the one responsible for this.
I didn't want anyone to suffer a loss.
It is very painful to lose a loved one.
When I was six years old,
my little brother passed away.
And my mom, she couldn't get over it.
So she died, too.
And not too long after that, my father
started to get sick and he passed away.
If someone died...
I wouldn't know how to...
How to face... How to face their families.
I wouldn't know how to cope
or how to tell them
that I brought their sons in here to die.
We were trapped.
The only thing left to do
was to climb up and dig our way out.
I had no idea how thick it actually was.
I thought if we all dug,
we would get through.
We took turns digging in shifts.
If there was nothing for the kids to do,
they would start imagining the worst.
And then the group
would start to break apart for sure.
- Let's help each other.
- Come on. Move that.
Come help me.
We worked together.
It was teamwork,
like when we played football.
You can't play football
by yourself, right?
We all have to play it together.
We were a team.
We would win or lose together.
- Hey, slow down.
- Go forward.
And the kids asked me
how much farther I thought it was.
- So, I said about five meters.
- Everyone believed it. All of us.
I imagined
it might lead us to the orange farm.
Once we dug through,
we'd eat some stranger's oranges.
Would we get scolded?
Would the owner throw us out?
We thoroughly planned it out.
Once we got out
and found the orange farm,
there was a small store.
We'd get something to eat there.
And collect our bikes
at the entrance of the cave.
Then bike home together.
We kept digging, kept going.
Some of us were wishing that an asteroid
would come and hit the cave.
Boom!
Once it made impact, then we could leave.
When the kids began
to joke around, it helped a bit.
Someone asked, "If a naked girl was here,
what would you do?"
Adul said, "I'm tired...
I'd make her freaking dig!"
Everyone was laughing so hard.
We thought
he was going to say something else.
Oh, man! So many funny things.
But the mood wasn't funny. It was tense.
It was our last hope.
It was our only way out.
Twelve youth soccer players
and their coach are missing.
LOOKING FOR MISSING CHILDREN
IN THAM LUANG CAVE
Yesterday, we said every minute counts.
Today, every half a minute,
every ten seconds counts for the boys.
But we're losing
our battle against the water.
And today we have experts.
They're cave-diving experts,
coming from all over the world.
There were many groups
working on this operation.
There were all together 8,000 people.
Divers from America, Australia, and China.
The cave was dark and complex.
So, we laid down a guide rope.
The first group would dive
and place a line as they go.
When they got to the end, they'd return.
The next group would place
another line from there and continue on.
We needed to keep going.
We had to find the children.
We had to get the boys out of the cave.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh day.
They were all the same.
It was dark and our
flashlight batteries were running out.
We started to stress out about that.
Without our flashlights,
we couldn't do or see anything.
This was how we lived.
Dig, sit, drink water. That was it.
If we did nothing,
we would simply be waiting for death.
By digging,
there was a chance we would survive.
As we dug, everyone could hear sounds.
There were sounds of children playing.
I heard a rooster
and some of the younger boys heard dogs.
We didn't know where they came from.
We just heard them.
All our brains were glitching.
Are you okay? Let's go. Hey.
We comforted each other.
If anyone wasn't feeling good,
an older kid
would comfort the younger kid.
I kept saying to the boys
that someone would definitely rescue us.
That we would survive and not die there.
Tee would console me. He gave me hope.
I had to make sure that they all survived.
We brought them in here.
We had to get them out alive.
I missed my mom.
I missed everyone in my family.
Some of the boys
slept next to me on my arms.
When we slept holding each other...
it felt like
I was hugging my family. It felt good.
I couldn't sleep at all.
I talked to my husband.
What would we do if he died?
I hadn't eaten
anything for about five days.
I'm only worried about my son.
I wonder what he's doing right now.
- How have you been the past few days?
- Stressed.
Do you want to say anything?
I want to see my son soon.
I refused to sleep.
People wanted me to sleep.
They gave me medicine.
But I refused to take it.
I didn't want it.
I was afraid my son
would come out and I'd miss him.
- Do you still have hope?
- Fifty-fifty...
I was really down
the day people came to ask me,
"If your son died,
how will you afford the funeral?"
I was crushed.
I pray that no matter what
we find the kids, dead or alive.
I hope we get
to at least see their bodies.
I have to tell you,
so far using science hasn't yet yielded
anything. The locals here are worried.
Today, they invited Phra Khuva Boonchum,
who's a very respected monk
in Chiang Rai Province.
He has come to conduct a forgiveness
and "release" ceremony for the spirit...
A ceremony to open
the way inside the cave.
Venerable Monk Phra Khuva Boonchum came
to free the spirit and spread compassion.
According to legend,
Venerable Monk Boonchum
was Nang Non's soulmate in his past life.
It had rained the entire day
before the Venerable Monk arrived.
The moment he arrived,
the rain stopped. It just stopped.
Khuva meditated and said
the boys were all
still together and alive.
I stopped crying after Khuva came
because I believed that my son was okay.
I believed that he was safe
and that made me very happy.
- Let's go. All set.
- Turn right to go out.
Turn right.
My prayers go out to the boys
who went missing last week.
Everyone was praying for them,
all across the world.
Let's pray for the children
who have been missing for the past week.
It was a massive karmic force.
Not just from Thailand,
but the whole world.
By the ninth day,
no one had any energy left.
We were somewhere between life and death.
Eak dug the most out of all of us.
He wanted to get us out of there.
Eak dug until his hands bled.
I was falling apart.
As I was digging, I secretly cried.
If one of the boys saw,
they would feel weak too.
I was scared of people forgetting us.
Like, "Those 13 kids
probably haven't made it."
"Let's forget about them."
My friends were deteriorating.
We hugged each other,
ready to give up. Like, if we die, we die.
Some of the kids said
we could eat the first person who dies.
Whoever died could feed their friends.
For their friends' survival.
That night, as we laid down to sleep,
we started saying,
"If tomorrow we don't dig our way out...
We're done."
My body couldn't take it anymore.
I just laid there,
curled up, hugging myself.
Our brains were shutting down.
Everyone said...
"I think this is our last day."
We were afraid we were dying.
The flashlights were nearly dead.
Eak told us
to just turn the flashlights off.
Just be with ourselves.
Suddenly, I heard a sound.
It sounded like bubbles.
Then I heard it again.
I heard someone saying, "Hello?"
Hello?
There was this energy that woke me.
Feelings of hunger
and exhaustion disappeared.
We were stunned.
We were like,
"Go down, hurry, before they leave."
I was right up front. I almost fell
in the water as I jumped down.
I cried. I was crying.
We were so happy
that someone had come to rescue us.
I don't know how to describe it.
We were overjoyed.
At last, someone had come to help us.
- Tell them we are hungry.
- I told them twice. They said they know.
He had a chocolate bar on him.
"Should we ask him for it? Should we?"
And no one dared ask him for it.
It was freaking hilarious.
I was proud. So proud of the boys.
If they hadn't been so strong-willed,
or if they hadn't been physically strong,
I don't think they would have
lasted long enough for help to arrive.
Okay, thank you.
They said we should wait here.
The divers told us we had to wait.
A group of Thai divers were coming.
I was so confused.
I thought the foreigners
were going to get us out.
But I didn't know where they went.
We heard cheering at around 10:00 p.m.
We quickly came down
to see what was happening.
BIGKREN
We were so happy.
We jumped up and hugged each other.
He's coming home.
We felt alive again.
As if the heavens had opened up.
I felt relieved
like a flower that had blossomed.
I was so happy.
It was the happiest I'd ever felt.
There will be a press conference.
We found the 13 children. They are safe.
MISSING THAI BOYS MIRACULOUSLY FOUND ALIVE
They were found alive today,
after having been missing for 10 days.
That evening, we were in a party mood.
We were happy.
We hugged each other and sang.
We weren't stressed out anymore.
I wasn't afraid anymore.
I'd been under so much pressure.
But now, it was like
a mountain had been lifted off me.
We survived!
Everything we did was worth it.
The only thing left to think about was,
what was going to happen to me
when I got out.
- Overall, is everyone still healthy?
- Still healthy.
Their emotional well-being...
Have you brought in counselors for them?
Right now, it will be
the SEALs going in first.
To take care of their safety.
Let's help move the tanks.
The next thing we knew,
we could hear the rescue team arriving.
They were like,
"You know, you're world-famous, right?"
We were all thinking to ourselves,
"What? Really?"
We were just some rural kids.
"World-famous?"
We didn't believe them.
I thought we were finally going to eat.
That's all I thought about.
The food was coming.
That's all I was interested in.
That day, we got to have
some power gel to give us energy.
Everyone was a little disappointed.
We didn't get to fill our stomachs.
We were just eating to survive.
Once they came,
I was like, "How do we get out?"
The water still hadn't gone down.
But they seemed unsure.
They said they would let us know.
One group stayed with us in the cave.
Four officers stayed behind.
Who's that?
The one with the dark blue shirt?
That's Ae's kid.
Titan! Titan lying down.
It made me cry seeing our son so skinny.
- I could barely recognize him.
- He was all bones.
But we were so lucky he was safe.
We found the children.
We were happy momentarily,
but there was another challenge ahead.
The next step was to figure out
a way to extract the boys from the cave.
We thought of several options.
I went as far as to consider
waiting for the water
to completely subside,
which would have taken four months.
In the meantime,
we could send in food and water.
I was shocked...
when I heard that they were going
to make us wait for the water to subside
or for the rainy season to be over.
Why did we have to wait that long?
We felt discouraged.
We had to inform the parents.
They needed to accept the risks involved.
There was a chance
that some of the boys would die.
Staying was risky,
coming out was also risky.
They told me I had to sign a consent form.
If I didn't sign,
they couldn't take them out.
If we waited for the rainy season to pass,
it would have taken three or four months.
Our chances would have gone down to zero.
But if we took a risk, it would at least
be 50-50, which were better odds.
We had to decide right away.
It was a very hard decision.
I decided that, fine, I'd sign it.
But while I was signing,
I felt really conflicted.
I was scared
even though they tried to reassure us.
I was still scared.
I was scared he wouldn't make it out.
They were talking about it
as if diving would be something fun...
to not stress the kids out.
I wanted to dive.
We were ready. It was exciting!
We really wanted to do it.
We didn't know it was that risky.
We were just kids.
We just wanted to get out.
That's all we thought about.
We needed to travel a long distance.
When we went in...
we'd use the oxygen we had on us.
But on the way back,
we'd have to use tanks that we had placed
along the way, to replace the empty ones.
The starting point
is only 300 meters from here.
And there's a point
where the water rushes in.
We have to dive through it.
Please, wait for tomorrow's update.
We can do it.
We're team...
The SEALs team. We never back down.
His name was Petty Officer Saman Gunan.
He worked
at the SEALs unit for many years.
That day, he volunteered...
...to place the oxygen tanks inside.
On his way out...
he fell unconscious.
He didn't regain consciousness.
I found out in the morning.
I messaged someone in his unit.
He...
He confirmed that he died.
I just saw him.
That day, they sent him on a plane.
And I was...
calling out his name.
I was constantly calling for him.
I tried to tell myself
that it wasn't true. It wasn't real.
The mission at the cave still needed to
go ahead because the children were inside.
This, I understood.
PETTY OFFICER SAMAN GUNAN
BORN 23 DECEMBER 1980 DIED 6 JULY 2018
We could still breathe
but it was getting harder.
They said the oxygen levels were dropping.
I was extremely worried
about what to do if they ran out of air.
And more rain
was coming in the next week.
That could make it riskier.
Today, we're at peak readiness.
Today we have our D-Day.
This was the world's first
extraction method of its kind.
The boys thought, once they got out,
they'd bike to their own homes and eat.
I asked to be the last person to leave.
The British divers would be responsible
for delivering the boys
to us in the third chamber.
As for our part, we planned the operation
from the third chamber
to the front of that cave.
From the third chamber,
we used about 200 people.
Be careful.
The army, left and right.
Right first.
I was the second person to leave.
They injected me like this.
It hurt so much.
I blacked out.
The first group was the riskiest.
We hoped for a miracle.
Slowly.
The rescue workers
were quiet as they walked out.
As if maybe the kids hadn't survived.
It was completely silent.
Through these 16 days of waiting,
today, we saw,
for the first time,
the face of one of the Wild Boars!
I was ecstatic.
FOURTH MEMBER OF THE WILD BOARS
BEING TAKEN TO HOSPITAL
The first ones went tremendously well.
The first day was unbelievable.
We could do this.
As it turns out,
on the last day, the plan changed.
I was told I would be the first out.
I was like, "What?"
They said they wanted
the biggest to go out first.
That's when I started to worry.
I thought that if I got out,
the parents
would wonder why I left the boys.
I would be in deep trouble.
I was still worried about how
I was going to clear
things up with the parents.
I sat on Dr. Harris's lap.
Right as our eyes met,
the needle went into my leg, like "shoop."
That's when I thanked him.
And asked him to take care of the boys
and I told him I'd see them outside.
It was lonely. I was the only one left.
I didn't have any friends
to cheer me up, to wish me a safe journey.
So I was like, "Never mind."
I thought the last guy out
was the coolest one.
He's the one who ends the story.
The last person was Mark.
I thought that it didn't matter
if he was last, as long as he was safe.
When I woke up,
it felt like I had been born again.
I was lying there naked.
And everyone took great care of me.
Like I was a newborn.
I was so happy.
Extremely happy. I can't describe it.
The hero this time
is everyone in the world.
We have done something nobody thought
we could, for the first time on Earth.
This is our pride.
This is Mission Possible.
He's coming here
right now, Coach Eak. Coach Eak!
It was a miracle that everybody survived.
As many of the parents walked in,
I thought to myself,
"Whatever happens, happens."
I mentally prepared myself
for whatever it was going to be.
He said when they slept,
they would hold hands.
When I heard that, I felt
all of them were like my own children.
They really loved each other.
Some people attacked him for this or that.
But we consider him part of our family.
Nobody wanted this to happen.
When they came in,
they told me to be brave.
Don't worry about anything.
Everyone understands.
Once I heard that, I was like, "Oh, okay."
All my worries melted away.
When I saw my mom
for the first time, I felt shocked.
I wanted to get down
and walk over to her, but I couldn't,
because I still didn't have
any strength in my legs.
And so my mom had to run in and hug me.
The first thing I saw
was my parents crying.
They were tears of joy.
They were relieved that I got out safely.
I gave him a hug and said,
"Tee, you have to let me know where you go
from now on. I love you, Tee."
I was ecstatic.
We jumped into each other's arms
and we were so happy.
It's a moment
that I've kept with me to this day.
When I saw their faces, I cried.
I thought, "Am I dreaming?"
Tle said he thought
he'd never see us again...
and when he said that,
I felt such a pang in my heart.
I couldn't speak.
Then they brought us
a picture of Sergeant Sam.
We went quiet. We were just stunned.
He came to rescue us, but he
didn't get to come back out with us.
Why did someone have to die for us?
When I saw the children,
I was just so proud
of what my husband did.
What he did was a success.
I never blamed them because I understand
no one wished
for something like this to happen.
I want them to live normal lives
and follow their dreams
like every other kid.
Continue chasing their dreams.
I don't think of myself
as a celebrity or anything.
I was just a kid who got stuck in a cave
and became famous
thanks to the people who came to help us.
When this thing happened, I had to adjust.
I had to be more polite.
So when people see me they'd be glad
to see we are good kids,
that they had rescued good kids.
I can't just do whatever I want any more.
I have to be a good kid now,
try to do well in school,
and not let other people down,
because they rescued us.
Thank you for giving me
moral support to this day.
Never give up.
Wild Boars!
Wild Boars!
When I think about
how many people came to help us,
I don't know how
I could ever repay this debt.
If I were to try,
this entire lifetime would not be enough.
Hold the position. Down! Up!
Down! Up!
Again?
- Can we go now? Can we go now?
- I don't care!
Titan, don't let a younger kid beat you.
- Overtake him.
- Come on.
Titan, go faster.
That was the last one.
Okay, send one person out.