Families Of Rescued Thai Boys Embrace The British Divers Who Saved Them

It was the story that boggled minds all over the world.

12 little LADs and their coach, trapped deep inside a cave system in Thailand for weeks, were finally rescued earlier this week.

And the British divers who went and rescued the young football team have just met with the boys' parents.

Footage shows the mums and dads hugging and bowing to the professional divers who worked to free the kids.

Some parents held their hands together in a traditional Thai wai gesture of thanks, while others hugged and embraced the heroes.

Chiang Rai press office

The British divers involved in the operation include Rick Stanton and John Volathen.

Volathen told the Daily Mail: "We are not heroes, quite the opposite.

"It's not like that - if you could do the same for someone's else's child, you would."

You seem like a hero to us, mate.

"The result is the important thing," he added. "The kids came out, the coach is good, the [Thai navy] Seals are good - job done. So we're pleased with that."

Chiang Rai press office

The parents have been anxiously awaiting the return of their boys for more than two weeks.

In the clip, they are visibly overjoyed, smiling broadly at the British diving team.

In the end, each boy was given a sedative and dragged out through the flooded caves by an expert diver.

Water pumps were also used to control the water levels in the cave system. Apparently, one of these broke just hours after the last boy had escaped, nearly trapping a team of engineers inside. Close call.

Divers had been able to reach the group to deliver food and water to them, although one tragically lost his life trying to get back out of the cave again.

There was also a medic who had kept vigil with the boys for the last week.

The young football team had walked into the cave when it was dry, but heavy rains had quickly caused it to flood, trapping them 3km deep inside the system.

Elon Musk had waded in to try and offer some assistance after concerns arose that the boys would be trapped in their for months - until the rainy season ended, basically.

In the end, the tech multi-billionaire wasn't needed, as a team of Thai Navy Seals and British divers managed to get the boys back to their families.

All the boys were taken to hospital but are doing well.

Topics: Thailand

Daisy Jackson

Daisy Jackson is a freelance writer, who has previously worked at Shortlist Media and Trinity Mirror. She has written about the Manchester terror attacks and appeared on BBC Five live to discuss the aftermath, as well as interviewing an orthopaedic surgeon in Syria.