One of the articles I read indicated that it was a 5 to 6 hour journey. They walk, they swim, they scuba, they have to have mountain climbing gear for part of it. It is a long and exhausting trip. Kudos to all helping these kids get out...

11 hours round trip...can you imagine! Especially grueling early on...during the time when the one diver died they were under water the entire way. Swift currents and total blackout...had to be CRAZY!

MSNBC is reporting that they are all out

I saw that this morning, too! Fantastic news!!!

Absolutely amazing skill and teamwork. Bravo.

This is amazing news!

wonder how long until we hear that the coach had the tar beat out of him by a mob of angry parents...if not worse...

...if not worse.

forced to watch world cup soccer?

The parents rallied behind him...I think he will be okay. I feel for him...but apparently his Buddhist training came in handy in helping to keep the boys calm.

Nothing short of a miracle, if you ask me. So thankful they all made it and are hopefully on a speedy road to recovery

It also became a bit apparent this morning that the likely reason they ended up so far back in the cave is due to the rising water in the beginning at the cave entrance that pushed them further and further back trying to find a safe platform to wait things out.

That makes a lot of sense. But good lord...I wonder how long it's been since they had any light at all...you know whatever flashlights, etc., they may have had went out long before help arrived.

I'll say it again...those kids have GRIT. And I don't mean the kind that washes off

I heard this morning that the coach is in the worst physical shape because he gave all the food they had to the boys. He is a hero for keeping those boys safe for this long. I've got a 10 year old boy and a 12 year old boy so stories like this really tug at my heart strings. I'm so happy they're out safe though I'm sure they have a long road to recovery.

The Thai Navy SEALs have a Facebook page I started following. (Along with another 1.7 million folks!) It is interesting. They just posted a picture of the last 4 divers to come out, the ones who have been living with the boys in the cave since they were found (one was a doctor). They all had sunglasses on to protect their eyes. I heard some tests on the boys are indicating no permanent sight loss from their days in the darkness, thank goodness.

i heard they reamped up the rescue effort so they would be home in time to view the semi-finals...Thailand sounds like a smart country that has its priorities in order!

From the more recent coverage I have read the boys were partly anesthetized and went through the journey on modified stretchers. I think this makes sense, because I was wondering how you don't have young boys who have never done scuba not panicking at some point on this journey. The doctor who was in the cave with them is an anesthesiologist.

They were given tranquilizers to calm them. They were moved to stretchers near the end of the tunnel...probably were worn slap out by then.

I will say the last Seals out and the Dr [may his dad rest in peace] were dang lucky or touched by an Angel...because that pump malfunctioned about the time they exited...holy Toledo that was close!!!


ETA: I think it's phenomenally awesome that the Doc was not only 1) on vacation in Thailand, but 2) a world renowned cave and rescue diver and 3) great with kids.

He was surely meant to play a huge part there

They said this morning that movie producers are already on scene looking over the area...I'm quite sure we will see this re-enactment sooner rather than later. Good grief.

Yeah, this has movie written all over it.

ETA: Apparently our news in the Southeast is delayed. Finally saw where they additionally strapped them down to gurneys in the areas where the crew could walk, but would have pretty obviously been slowed down big time by the weakened kiddos. That was a very smart move.

It has been 4 years since this miraculous recovery, and National Geography has produced a great documentary on it. I highly recommend it -- playing on Disney+ now. The Rescue

It includes never-before seen footage and the full story of the rescue, which was even more daring than revealed at the time. The boys were fully anesthetized on a cocktail of drugs never before tried, and the middle-aged cave divers who relayed them out had to give them additional doses shot through their wetsuits along the way. The Royal Thai SEALS were forbidden from engaging in the rescue dives after one of their own drown - they simply didn't have the expertise. So it all fell on a few hobby cave divers who were literally the only men on earth capable of even attempting it.

Many of the divers were introverted "geeky" men who were bullied as kids and found solace in the seclusion of cave diving. Now they were thrust into a "hero" role with the world watching. The emotional and physical toil on them was tremendous. They were physically exhausted and emotionally attached to the boys. The anaesthetician (who was also a world-class cave diver) truly thought he was effectively giving the boys euthanasia, but there was no other alternative. The oxygen level in the cave had fallen to 15%. They had to get them out imminently. The US military had planned an extraction for the divers, in case the rescue failed. The mobs of people (who didn't understand the complexity of the operation and were highly emotional) would have attacked them and the country would have tried them.

Astounding! Watch the show - it features the original divers and will give you goosebumps!

But wait, there's more!

A Ron Howard film: "Thirteen Lives" is coming out this summer to tell the tale. Colin Farrell and Viggo Mortensen will portray the two main divers, and Joel Edgerton the anesthesiologist doctor. Can't wait!

The divers were white guys?

Thanks RebekahL CRCM, that sounds very interesting, I'll have to check it out this weekend!

The expert cave divers were comprised of a small community of divers who, yes, were white. The UK has a "British Cave Rescue Council" and the lead divers came from there, with others from Australia, Belgium, France, Denmark. Other international divers helped do support work by transporting air tanks to various stages for relay. Some Royal Thai Navy SEALs dove in and stayed with the boys (before the Thai Navy shut down any further SEAL dives), but did not participate in extracting the unconscious boys out.

The movie comes out on Prime Video (I believe) this Friday.