Rescue

On the morning of 8 July, officials instructed the media and all non-essential personnel around the cave entrance to clear the area as a rescue operation was imminent, due to the threat of monsoon rains later in the week, which were expected to flood the cave until October.

For the first part of the extraction, eighteen rescue divers consisting of thirteen international cave divers and five Thai Navy SEALs were sent into the caves to retrieve the boys, with one diver to accompany each boy on the dive out. There were conflicting reports that the boys were rescued with the weakest first or strongest first. In fact, the order was which boy volunteered first. The 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong, said, "I talked with Dr. Harris. Everyone was strong and no one was sick," he told the press. "Everybody had a strong mental state. Dr. Harris said... there's no preference." The team decided as a group that the boys who lived the farthest away should leave first. Ekapol Chanthaong stated in their 18 July press conference, "We were thinking, when we get out of the cave, we would have to ride the bicycle home," Ekapol said, not realizing at the time their story had garnered global media attention. "So the persons who live the furthest away would be allowed to go out first… so that they can go out and tell everyone that we were inside, we were okay."

The international cave diving team was led by four British divers: John Volanthen, Richard Stanton, Jason Mallinson and Chris Jewell (each assigned a boy) and two Australians: Richard Harris, a physician specializing in anesthesia, and Craig Challen. Their portion of the journey would stretch over 1 kilometre going through submerged routes while being supported by 90 Thai and foreign divers at various points performing medical check-ups, resupplying air-tanks for the main divers and other emergency roles.

The boys were dressed in a wetsuit, buoyancy jacket, harness and a positive pressure full face mask. A cylinder with 80% oxygen was clipped to their front, a handle attached to their back and they were tethered to a diver in case they were lost in the poor visibility. The rescue divers described them as "a package." Harris administered the anaesthetic ketamine to the boys before the journey, rendering them unconscious, to prevent them from panicking on the journey and risking the lives of their rescuers. They were also given the anti-anxiety drug Xanax and the drug atropine to steady their heart rates. The Thai government provided doctor Harris and two medical assistants with diplomatic immunity in case something went wrong. The anaesthetic lasted between 45 minutes to an hour, requiring divers, whom Harris had trained, to re-sedate the boys during the three hour journey. The boys were manoeuvred out by the swimming divers who held onto their back or chest, with each boy on either the right or left side of the diver, depending on the guideline; in very narrow spots divers pushed the boys from behind. The divers navigated them through tight passages carefully to avoid dislodging their full face mask against rocks. The divers kept their heads higher than the boys so that in poor visibility the diver would hit their head against the rocks first. After a short dive to a dry section, the divers and boys were met by three divers, and the boys' dive gear was removed. The boys were then transported on a drag stretcher over 200 m of rocks and sand hills. Craig Challen assessed them, and their dive gear was put back on before they were re-submerged for the next section. The boys arrived at 45-minute intervals. The divers knew the boys were breathing from their exhaust bubbles, which they could see and feel.

After being delivered by the divers into the staging base in Chamber 3, the boys were then passed along a 'daisy chain' by hundreds of rescuers stationed along the treacherous path out of the cave. The boys, wrapped in 'sked' stretchers, would alternately be carried, slid and zip-lined over a complex network of pulleys installed by rock-climbers. Many areas from Chamber 3 to the entrance of the cave were still partially submerged and rescuers described having to transport the boys over slippery rocks and through muddy water for hours. The journey from Chamber 3 to the cave entrance took about four to five hours initially, but was reduced to less than an hour after a week of draining and clearing the mud path using shovels.

The authorities warned that extracting everyone would take several days, because crews had to replace air tanks, gear, and other supplies, requiring ten to twenty hours between each run. Shortly after 19:00, local officials said that two boys had been rescued and taken to Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital. Shortly after, two more boys exited the cave and were assessed by medical officials. Low water levels had reduced the time required for the rescues. The lower water was due to improved weather and the construction of a weir outside the cave to help control the water.

On 9 July, four more boys were rescued from the cave. On 10 July, the last four boys and their coach were rescued from the cave. Experience helped streamline the rescue procedure, so the total time to extract a boy was reduced from three hours on the first day to just over two hours on the final day, allowing four boys and the coach to be rescued. The three Thai Navy SEALs and the Army doctor who had stayed with the boys the entire time were the last to dive out. Three of these divers made it to Chamber 3, joining waiting rescuers when the pumps shut off for an uncertain reason, possibly due to a burst water pipe. Water levels in Chamber 3 started to rise, which would have cut off rescuers' access to Chamber 2, Chamber 1 and the entrance of the cave. "All of a sudden a water pipe burst and the main pump stopped working", a diver stated. "We really had to run from the third chamber to the entrance because the water level was rising very quickly – like 50 cm every 10 minutes." This forced up to 100 rescuers still located more than 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) inside the cave to evacuate in a hurry, abandoning the rescue equipment inside the cave. The last diver made it back to Chamber 3 as everyone was preparing to leave. The rescuers managed to rush to the cave exit in under an hour.

A number of news outlets reported on the role of coach Ekkaphon during the rescue. The coach had previously been a Buddhist monk, and had guided meditation for the children during the ordeal. He also passed on a message in which he apologised for putting the children in danger.

Recoveryedit

Thai authorities said the rescued boys were able to eat rice porridge, but more complex foods would be withheld for ten days. The Thai Health Ministry said the boys lost an average of 2 kilograms (4.4 lb) each, but were in "good condition". The boys were quarantined while health workers determined whether they had caught any infectious diseases, and they were expected to remain hospitalised for at least one week. Due to the prolonged stay in the damp cave environment, officials were worried about potential infections such as histoplasmosis or leptospirosis. Parents of the team members initially visited looking through a window, but if laboratory results proved negative, they would be allowed to visit in person while wearing a medical gown, face mask and hair cap.

The boys wore sunglasses as a precaution while their eyes adjusted to daylight. Detailed tests of their eyes, nutrition, mental health and blood were carried out. A Health Ministry physician said all the boys showed an increase in white blood cells, so preventive antibiotic doses were given to the entire team.