UPDATED: Thai soccer players & coach speak publicly for first time since their rescue...
Source: The Washington Post
Thai soccer players and coach speak publicly for first time since their rescue from flooded cave
By Panaporn Wutwanich and Shibani Mahtani
July 18 at 8:55 AM
CHIANG RAI, Thailand — With a routine of digging, breaks for water and meditation, a group of young Thai soccer players and their coach stayed alive while trapped in a cave without any food for nine days before they were found by two British divers in a remarkable search-and-rescue operation that gripped the world.
In their first public appearance since their daring and almost improbable rescue, the young Thai soccer players emerged holding soccer balls, dribbling them in a show of health and good spirits before detailing their weeks-long ordeal.
The boys, their 25-year old coach Ekapol Chanthawong said, persuaded him to bring them on a short trip into the vast cave system after soccer practice on June 23. They had no food or snacks with them, he said, planning to stay there for just an hour and be home before nightfall. None of the boys had even told their parents of their plans.
As they went farther and farther in, they used a guide rope, pulling on it twice when those at the front of the group realized they could not continue. Soon, they reached that point — and they tried to retreat. But when they attempted to head back to the cave’s intersection, their only route out, they realized it was flooding.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/world/wp/2018/07/18/we-dug-holes-to-find-a-way-to-escape-thai-soccer-team-released-from-hospital-makes-first-public-comments-since-cave-rescue/
Original article:
'We dug holes to find a way to escape': Thai soccer team, released from hospital,...
By Washington Post Staff
July 18 at 8:29 AM
They only planned to stay in the cave for an hour, 12 young Thai soccer players and their 25-year-old coach said, hoping to be home before the evening when heavy rains trapped them.
In their first public comments since their rescue, the boys and their coach talked about how they kept to a routine of drinking water and meditating and praying every night before they slept to keep their spirits up.
“We dug holes to find a way to escape and stopped when we were tired. We kept drinking water to fill our belly,” said assistant coach Ekapol Chanthawong.
This is a developing story. It will be updated.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/thai-soccer-players-and-coach-speak-for-first-time-since-their-rescue-from-flooded-cave/2018/07/18/5f272bdc-8a61-11e8-8b20-60521f27434e_story.html