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This was published 4 years ago

Thai cave heroes look back on 2018 saga

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It was the story the world watched with bated breath.

Twelve schoolboys and their soccer coach were trapped for more than 18 days when they were exploring the Luang Nang Non cave complex and it became flooded on June 23, 2018.

While millions watched on, it was a handful of highly skilled divers who saved the Wild Boars soccer team.

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Twelve schoolboys and their coach were trapped in a cave in Thailand for more than 18 days.

Twelve schoolboys and their coach were trapped in a cave in Thailand for more than 18 days. Supplied

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Divers John Volanthen, Rick Stanton and Dr Craig Challen looked back on the 2018 saga with Karl and Ally this morning.

"We were totally focused on searching," Mr Stanton said.

"We didn't really know what we were going to find.

"That was a hugely euphoric moment but also you have to temper that with massive relief because of the fact that they were all alive, all perfectly healthy, as far as we could see."

Dr Challen said the team became worried as the weather started to deteriorate.

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"The monsoon was threatening and we had to come up with some way of trying to get the boys out with some measure of success," he said.

"We knew they would almost certainly panic if we tried to swim them out in any manner we had tried before."

The boys were ultimately drugged with ketamine and handcuffed on their journey to safety.

"None of us thought it was possible or have success without casualties, but it was the only chance these boys had," Dr Challen said.

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Watch the full interview above

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