Getting Out Of The Cave

samclem said:
An interesting tid-bit from one of the UK underwater cave rescue folks. In a BBC interview he said that inability to swim wouldn't be a big issue in this case, as apparently little swimming involved. They just put plenty of weights on the person and they crawl out along the same path they used to get in. He said some of the best cave divers aren't particularly strong swimmers.
Still, I would think that it would be a lot to overcome for a kid who isn't a swimmer to put his head underwater and to be weighted so it is impossible for him to get to the surface.


A great outcome overall, congrats to the rescue team and to the kids--and, yes, their coach. I'll bet those divers who first found the kids will never be able to pay for a drink anywhere in Thailand, and that's as it should be.
Click to expand...
Apparently the kids got anxiety meds before they started the exit. I'm sure that helped.

I was mesmerized by this story. I choked up almost every time it came on TV. I was delighted by the news that they were all out. There's so much crap news out there that a story like this brings out the humanity in us I think. Something around which all of us can rally.
 
The best part of this whole ordeal (besides them all being rescued) was how the world came together to help rescue them and cheer for them. I wonder if we all think it could have been us and wonder if we would have been brave enough to survive 10 days without knowing if we would be rescued. I do think what they did was not unusual and they had done it before so maybe they thought someone would come looking for them.

Can you imagine their surprise when a head popped out of the water that first time?
 
bmcgonig said:
Apparently the kids got anxiety meds before they started the exit. I'm sure that helped.

I was mesmerized by this story. I choked up almost every time it came on TV. I was delighted by the news that they were all out. There's so much crap news out there that a story like this brings out the humanity in us I think. Something around which all of us can rally.
Click to expand...

I couldn't bring myself up to watch it on TV at all. I hate seeing or hearing about people being trapped. My main source of information was this forum (surprise!) and breaking news notifications on my iPhone.

I did talk to my mom in Japan once during this ordeal, and I don't know what kind of newsfeed they have there, but she said the water level never rises this high this early in the season, so the coach had no way of knowing this would happen. She also said the coach used to be a Buddhist monk (or used to be trained as a monk?) and he led everyone to meditate to conserve energy. I'm just repeating what she said. I don't know how accurate it is.

Anyway, it doesn't matter which country you live in, a lot of people who knew the story were praying or hoping for this great outcome.
 
Last edited:
samcat said:
The best part of this whole ordeal (besides them all being rescued) was how the world came together to help rescue them and cheer for them. I wonder if we all think it could have been us and wonder if we would have been brave enough to survive 10 days without knowing if we would be rescued. I do think what they did was not unusual and they had done it before so maybe they thought someone would come looking for them.

Can you imagine their surprise when a head popped out of the water that first time?
Click to expand...

Great end to a very suspenseful story and too bad the world can't work through all of its problems in a similar manner. This demonstrates that as a common denominator we all human and basically want the same things. On a lighter note, if I had been in that cave for nine days without food and the head popped up, I probably would have ate it.
 
One of the greatest fears that a human has besides speaking in front of a crowd, is getting buried alive. Ask me how I know the statistics, after working 35 years in a coal mine. It plays out every time a mining disaster occurs and hits the news.
 
Winemaker said:
One of the greatest fears that a human has besides speaking in front of a crowd, is getting buried alive. Ask me how I know the statistics, after working 35 years in a coal mine. It plays out every time a mining disaster occurs and hits the news.
Click to expand...
You're so right about that. I remember the mining disaster in Chile a few years ago. Everyone (including me) followed that very closely. The same was true for the rescue of Baby Jessica who fell into that deep well in Texas.

As for speaking to a crowd, I was afraid of that at first. So, when I took a job that required speaking to the public I decided to do something about that. I went to Toastmasters and got over my fear of public speaking. That surprised me, because I am such an introvert that I didn't think it would work. But once I learned a few skills and got some experience in public speaking, it was a snap.
 
My early career (20's) got a boost from the simple fact that I was not afraid to talk in front of a group about a subject I knew really well, and had rehearsed. It seemed that many of my coworkers couldn't bring themselves to do it, no matter how well they knew their subject.

Now, having to get up in front of people without any preparation is another matter, although I've done it. Fortunately, nobody asks you to talk about something unless they think you know the subject!

Winemaker said:
One of the greatest fears that a human has besides speaking in front of a crowd, is getting buried alive. Ask me how I know the statistics, after working 35 years in a coal mine. It plays out every time a mining disaster occurs and hits the news.
Click to expand...
 
Strangely for me, I was like this too...at first...At 25 or 30 I had no fear of public speaking. I took drama in school and loved the stage.

But later on, I used to randomly get nervous. Not every time, and no rhyme or reason. But the kind of physical anxiety where you cannot breathe and almost want to pass out or vomit. Your face gets hot. I felt stupid as I knew better, and new my stuff like the back of my hand. Sure, my audiences were bigger now, but still.

I started analyzing it after I was getting more worried about "is it going to happen this time or not?" than the actual content. I found honestly the MORE prepared and rehearsed I was, the worse I felt.

I did far better going with a very loose script, and a more interactive presentation. Even when that wasn't an option, I was always fine talking freeform in Q&A after the formal part was done.


Amethyst said:
My early career (20's) got a boost from the simple fact that I was not afraid to talk in front of a group about a subject I knew really well, and had rehearsed. It seemed that many of my coworkers couldn't bring themselves to do it, no matter how well they knew their subject.

Now, having to get up in front of people without any preparation is another matter, although I've done it. Fortunately, nobody asks you to talk about something unless they think you know the subject!
Click to expand...
 
I just read what to me is an unbelievable data point about this situation.


"Interviews with military personnel and officials detailed a Thailand cave rescue operation assembled from an amalgam of muscle and brainpower from around the world: 10,000 people participated, including 2,000 soldiers, 200 divers and representatives from 100 government agencies."


10,000 people... 2,000 soldiers. What an incredible show of unity.



And what a breathe of fresh air in such a messed up world. #faith #hope


Here is the link to where I read the stat from NYT
‘Still Can’t Believe It Worked’: The
Story of the Thailand Cave Rescue'
 
I wonder who is going to put pencil to paper and add up all the costs that went into this operation...


I cannot believe that there were 10,000 people involved... way too many IMO...


But, glad they got them all out..
 
Texas Proud said:
I wonder who is going to put pencil to paper and add up all the costs that went into this operation...


I cannot believe that there were 10,000 people involved... way too many IMO...


But, glad they got them all out..
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that there were also many volunteers not looking to ring up a tab :).
 
easysurfer said:
Keep in mind that there were also many volunteers not looking to ring up a tab :).
Click to expand...


I agree... but there are opportunity costs even with them... IOW, they should be doing their normal job and are not... and who is feeding them?


I am sure at the end of the day this cost over $10 mill and could reach $50 mill... these are WAGs, but I would put money on the over $10 mill....
 
The Cave Rescue in Thailand, Jul 2018

This lengthy article on the cave rescue in Thailand was published last Friday in Maclean's. Now that the details are known, I enjoyed reading about how things went.
 
audreyh1 said:
I did not watch this unfold, but am glad they were all rescued. I remember the Chilean miners - I watched TV news at the time, but didn't tune in to the story until the very end, thankfully successful conclusion.

I can only imagine how much TV airtime this occupied.
Click to expand...
Chilean miners and their families received and went to Walt Disney World Orlando and had a great time. The miraculous story of the kids survival in the underwater caves in Thailand - perhaps to be made for a TV movie.
 
samclem said:
This lengthy article on the cave rescue in Thailand was published last Friday in Maclean's. Now that the details are known, I enjoyed reading about how things went.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I'm gonna save it for a long flight I have coming up next week.
 
Aerides said:
Thanks for that. I'm gonna save it for a long flight I have coming up next week.
Click to expand...
I wasn't bowled over by the author's writing style, and the story has some big gaps, but it is the most complete account I've seen of the actual rescue. I'd recommend looking ahead to see the accompanying illustration/map of the cave before starting the read, it is placed too far back in the piece. Have a good flight!
 
Last edited:
I am bumping this 4 year old thread because the movie Thirteen Lives is now playing on Amazon Prime.

Ron Howard essentially made Apollo 13 in a cave. Well done. One of the lead rescuers, Rick Stanton, has good things to say about the movie. I personally found it engaging and engrossing, even though we know the end. Howard obviously had to simplify the story a bit, consolidating events and characters. The reality was there were many more divers involved, and the water was absolutely zero visibility all the time. But seeing 2 hours of brown wouldn't make much of a movie, right?

It is interesting to read about the actors' experience with the movie. Both leads did their own diving, and both had times of panic. I can only imagine. In the movie, there's a depiction of one of the other divers who lost the line and had panic. I can only relate to hiking, when I lose the trail. It is a horrible feeling, but in hiking, I won't run out of air!

So there we are. I re-read the entire thread. A few posters were clairvoyant. None of us anticipated the "crazy" plan of sedating the kids. The movie is not exaggerating about it being outrageous and crazy, but sometimes, you need crazy in desperate times.

One footnote. I remember this thread because I thought it was a metaphorical title. I retired right when this happened, and I was in a metaphorical cave. So the thread title burned in my brain. It took me a long time to get out of my metaphor, about 4 months. That's an ER story for a different thread, different day.
 
Last edited:
JoeWras said:
I am bumping this 4 year old thread because the movie Thirteen Lives is now playing on Amazon Prime.

Ron Howard essentially made Apollo 13 in a cave. Well done. One of the lead rescuers, Rick Stanton, has good things to say about the movie. I personally found it engaging and engrossing, even though we know the end. Howard obviously had to simplify the story a bit, consolidating events and characters. The reality was there were many more divers involved, and the water was absolutely zero visibility all the time. But seeing 2 hours of brown wouldn't make much of a movie, right?

It is interesting to read about the actors' experience with the movie. Both leads did their own diving, and both had times of panic. I can only imagine. In the movie, there's a depiction of one of the other divers who lost the line and had panic. I can only relate to hiking, when I lose the trail. It is a horrible feeling, but in hiking, I won't run out of air!

So there we are. I re-read the entire thread. A few posters were clairvoyant. None of us anticipated the "crazy" plan of sedating the kids. The movie is not exaggerating about it being outrageous and crazy, but sometimes, you need crazy in desperate times.

One footnote. I remember this thread because I thought it was a metaphorical title. I retired right when this happened, and I was in a metaphorical cave. So the thread title burned in my brain. It took me a long time to get out of my metaphor, about 4 months. That's an ER story for a different thread, different day.
Click to expand...



Really well done by Howard. Even though I knew the ending I was tensed up the whole time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Jerry1
Silver Coin Collecting Question
2
Replies
43
Views
1K
Koolau
Koolau
E
The Eagles - Lip Syncing? Milli Vanilli redux?
2
Replies
31
Views
2K
Koolau
Koolau
C
Law of unintended consequences
Replies
18
Views
1K
CardsFan
C
K
Tax deduction for health insurance taken out of state pension
Replies
8
Views
849
kjpliny
K
M
Solo Vacations
2 3 4
Replies
80
Views
3K
rk911
rk911

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom