Title : Adelaide doctor makes call to get weakest Thai soccer players first
link : Adelaide doctor makes call to get weakest Thai soccer players first
Adelaide doctor makes call to get weakest Thai soccer players first
How Australian doctor Richard Harris REVERSED cave rescue plans by bringing the weakest boys out first - as eight teammates and coach remain underground after the mission is put on hold
- The young footballers and their coach have been trapped in flooded caves in northern Thailand for 15 days
- Hazardous rescue operation to save 12 young Thai footballers from underground began Sunday morning
- Cave diver and anaesthetist Dr Richard Harris, from Adelaide, assessed the boys in dive before the rescue
- The initial strategy was to extract the strongest boys first but that was revised and weakest were extracted
- Remaining eight boys and coach must wait until late Monday to be saved, Thai Public Broadcast Service said
Dr Richard Harris is an anesthetist from Adelaide who went into the cave at the request of Thai authorities
An Australian doctor convinced Thai officials to change their rescue plans and first get some of the weakest boys out of the cave where they were trapped, it can be revealed.
Cave diver and anaesthetist Dr Richard Harris, from Adelaide, dived with the rescue team on Sunday afternoon to check on the 12 boys and their coach.
The initial strategy was to extract the strongest boys first because they would have more chance of making it to safety while the others could stay back and build up strength.
But that was revised after Dr Harris' health assessment found some of the weaker boys may not survive if they were left behind, according to Thai media.
Four of the 12 trapped boys were brought to safety on Sunday evening. Operations to bring out the other eight and their coach will start this afternoon as divers place fresh oxygen tanks along the exit route.
Dr Harris, who was requested by British divers leading the operation, is working alongside the Thai Navy and 18 other Australians in the rescue efforts.
The 53-year-old has 30 years of diving experience and has worked on retrieving bodies from caves.
He famously found the body of stunt diver Agnes Milowka who ran out of air in the Tank Cave near Tantanoola in the south east of South Australia in 2011, The Advertiser reported.
David Strike, a dive event organiser who has known Dr Harris for more than a decade told Fairfax: 'He's been diving for over 30 years, and readily embraced advances in diving technology to better help him explore and photograph caves in Australia and overseas.'
'In the past few years, he's been involved in cave-diving explorations in Australia, China, Christmas Island and New Zealand. He has an active interest in diving safety and accident investigation.
'Quite apart from his own cave exploration experiences, as an anaesthetist and a medical professional who is also involved in retrieval medicine, he has always struck me as a person who is capable of calmly assessing any situation and then acting appropriately.'
The 'extremely dangerous' operation to free the boys, who have been trapped in the cave for 15 days, began on Sunday morning when rescuers decided to act before more monsoon rains flood the caves.
Dr Harris has 30 years of diving experience and will work with the Royal Thai Navy during the operation. Pictured: One of the divers in the rescue attempt
Saved: Prajak Sutham (left), 14, is also known as Note, and is known as a 'quiet but sport-loving boy'. Right: Pipat Bodhi, 15
The first boy out was Monhkhol Boonpiam (left), 13, known as Mark. Eight other young players and their 25-year-old coach of the Wild Boars football team were chosen to remain in the cavern – half a mile deep – until tomorrow. Right: Nattawut 'Tle' Takamsai, 11, was among those rescued
The first boy taken from the cave was Mongkol Boonpiem, 13, who emerged at 5.37pm local time.
He was in critical condition and needed urgent evacuation, a family friend told local media. His condition has reportedly since stabilised.
The four boys were able to wade through some shallow sections of the underground labyrinth instead of diving.
The 'masterpiece' three-and-a-half-hour mission, led by expert British divers, saw the children being calmly guided to safety after 15 days of being stuck in their fetid underground prison.
Wearing full-face masks, the youngsters swam – for the first time in their lives – through miles of mud-clogged underwater tunnels which claimed the life of an elite Thai navy diver on Friday.
On finally emerging blinking into the daylight, the boys were hugged by their British rescuers.
They were tearfully reunited with their weeping parents – who have kept a desperate two-week vigil at the cave entrance – before being taken to hospital.
The second boy was Prajak Sutham, known as Note. Number three was Nattawoot Thakamsai, a 14-year-old asthma sufferer whose parents have already lost a baby daughter to cancer.
Lastly came Pipat Bodhu, 15, aka Nick, who was not even in the team but came along as a friend of the goalkeeper.
Eight other young players and their 25-year-old coach of the Wild Boars football team were chosen to remain in the cavern – half a mile deep – until Monday.
Commanders paused the mission overnight to replenish oxygen supplies and give the rescuers a break. But they remain 'at war with water and time' as torrential monsoon downpours deluged the Tham Luang cave, in the hilly jungle of northern Thailand, and threatened to flood it even further.
Ambulances have been seen driving away from the cave complex and heading for hospital 35 miles away. The most seriously ill were flown in a military helicopter
The starved and exhausted players were carried on stretchers from an ambulance to a helicopter near the caves before being flown to hospital
Thai doctors and nurses are on standby for the arrival of children after being rescued from Tham Luang cave, at the hospital in Chiang Rai province
Images from Thai TV show the boys were being brought out on stretchers to a waiting helicopter after being helped out of the water with two divers per child
US billionaire space engineer Elon Musk has been working on a submarine that can contain and transport a human (pictured above in the US). It is unlikely to be delivered to the cave rescue in time but may be used in similar rescuers in the future
These images are grabs from a video shared on Twitter by Musk showing the submarine being tested with a man inside
Last night, the Thai king led tributes to rescuers and the schoolboys as scenes of joyful weeping nationwide were shown on television. US President Donald Trump offered his congratulations.
Yesterday Note's aunt told the Daily Mail he was a strong, caring, intelligent boy who dreamed of becoming a professional footballer, adding that he would be so excited by an offer from football chiefs to the World Cup final in Moscow that 'he would punch the air'.
The mother of Mark, the first boy out, has always kept the faith. Namhom Boonpiam staunchly declared: 'I believe he will survive.' However, even after their ordeal is over, the children could still suffer post traumatic stress disorder, experts have warned.
Their experience is expected to lead to nightmares, sleep problems, stomach and headaches and clinginess with parents, as well as getting angry and upset more easily.
Dr Andrea Dese, head of the stress and development lab at Kings College London's Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, said: 'In the longer term, most children will recover from the initial emotional symptoms.
A sizeable minority, 10 to 30 per cent, will however experience enduring mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety disorders and PTSD.'
Outside the cave entrance, there was still torment for the families of the boys left behind 'until tomorrow or the next day'.
Dr Harris (pictured) assessed the boys and their coach inside the caves and deemed the weakest were ready to be extracted
The first boy was taken from the caves at 5.37pm local time but the mission could take three days
Over several tense hours, seven crack British cave divers hailed as the masters of their profession escorted the four schoolchildren through narrow, jagged tunnels.
With them were five other international divers and five Thai navy SEALS, and more than 70 other divers in support roles, 50 of whom were foreigners. The commander of yesterday's operation, regional governor Narongsak Osatanakorn said as the operation commenced: 'Today we are most ready. Today is D-Day.' Fearing further flooding, he said the children, aged 11 to 16, might be stuck until January if they ignored yesterday's chance.
He added: 'Today we reached peak readiness – in terms of kids' health, water and our rescue readiness. It has been our masterpiece work.'
Yesterday's operation proceeded faster than expected thanks to the success of a pumping operation which has drained 190million litres from the cave network, making some parts walkable.
Mr Osatanakorn said a one-mile passage from the cave entrance to the third chamber, a staging ground for the mission, was 'mostly walkable', adding: 'Although there are some slightly difficult parts [where] we have to bend or crawl, we can say that we can just walk through it. We will have to do the next mission as successfully as the one we did today.'
The third teenager rescued from the cave was said to need immediate medical attention, and instead of being taken by ambulance he was airlifted to hospital straight from the cave mouth.
The less seriously ill boys went by road, with parts of the 45-mile route lined by traffic policemen.
Last night, the Thai navy SEALS posted a message to their Facebook page which said: 'Have a good dream tonight. Night. Hooyah.'
An ambulance headed to the Tham Luang caves to collect the first two boys who were alive and well after being rescued
Paramedics drove the boys to awaiting helicopters which flew 35 miles to the nearest hospital where doctors were on standby
Thai military personnel inside a cave complex during the ongoing rescue operations for the youth soccer team and their assistant coach, at Tham Luang cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park
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