That underwater journey in those conditions is beyond their ability. But as amazing a moment is that was, I think both John and I immediately moved on to the next step: OK, they're here, but I've absolutely no idea how we can get them out. So just as asked, 'How many of you are there?' You hear me say in the background, 'They're all alive.' And, for us, that was quite miraculous, considering what we were expecting to possibly find. I was actually counting them as they came around the corner into view. They walked down, crouched on their haunches in front of us. It was difficult to know who - if anyone - would be capable of getting the boys and their coach out safely.Īsia Pump Fails At Thai Cave Hours After Soccer Boys Rescued Oxygen supply was dwindling inside the cave, and any rescue would require maneuvering through tight underwater crevasses. The Thai rescue mission presented a unique challenge. Their new film, The Rescue, tells the story of the daring underwater rescue operation in Thailand.

Vasarhelyi and her husband and co-filmmaker Jimmy Chin are the directors of the Oscar-winning documentary Free Solo.

Rain water rushed into the cave, trapping them deep inside.ĭocumentary filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi describes the cave as incredibly intimidating, with a 'a darkness that kind of pulls you in.' The boys and the coach were about two kilometers in, she says, and 'trapped on the wrong side of the water.' But it was just before the beginning of the four-month monsoon season, and while they were in the cave, it started to downpour outside. The boys, who were all members of a soccer team, had gone into a long, winding underground cave with their coach to celebrate one of the boy's birthdays. In June 2018, the world held its breath for 18 days as a group of elite cave divers risked everything to rescue 12 boys and their coach from an underwater cave in Northern Thailand. The Rescue chronicles the 2018 rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach who were trapped deep inside a flooded cave in Northern Thailand.

Cave story plus save editor