Wild Boars Cave Rescue: Thai Navy Seal Dies Of Blood Infection Contracted During Operation

In what will end up as a sad footnote to an incredible rescue mission, a Navy Seal from Thailand who helped rescue a group of 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand, has succumbed to a blood infection.

The Thai Navy announced in a statement posted on Facebook, on Friday, that Petty Officer Beirut Pakbara contracted the blood infection while working to retrieve the 12 boys and their coach.

Beirut was under close supervision by doctors during his year-long illness but, according to the Navy, “his condition worsened, and he died from the blood infection.” In accordance with Muslim funeral rituals, Beirut was immediately buried.

The rescue that captivated the world began in June of 2018 when the 12 boys from Wild Boars Academy and their coach Ekapol Chanthawong set out to explore the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai province. They were trapped when a downpour in the middle of Thailand’s rainy season flooded the cave system.

The flooding caused them to go deeper into the cave system where they finally ended up on a small rocky shelf about 4 kilometers into the caves. They were forced to go beyond a normally dry area that the locals had dubbed Pattaya Beach that had flooded due to the continuing rains.

While rescue efforts and world attention outside the caves began to ramp up, the boys' biggest challenge was finding water and remaining calm under the terrifying circumstances. The water came in the form of condensation and water dripping from the cave walls. The “calm” was provided by their coach, a former monk, who instructed the boys how to meditate, stay still and conserve their air and energy. They had no food and had to huddle together to stay warm.

The boys were discovered a week later by two British divers supported by an international team of engineers, divers plus the Thai Navy Seals.

The sense of relief was short-lived as the next rescue hurdle was to figure out how to extract 13 people, some non-swimmers, from a winding, flooded 4km-long stretch of caves that even experienced divers would struggle with. The rescue path had areas too narrow for scuba tanks and lengthy areas that were underwater.

The rescue, nothing short of miraculous, ended on July 10 when all 12 boys and the coach emerged a bit thinner but in good health and good spirits. The joy of the rescue was subdued, however, because another Navy Seal diver Saman Gunan, died after running out of oxygen while attempting to establish an airline to the trapped group.

The Wild Boars team has since toured the world, meeting footballing stars from the UK and the USA and even appearing on American talk shows. Netflix has the exclusive rights to the story and another film by Irish-Thai filmmaker Tom Waller, recently made it to movie theatres in Thailand.

A statue of Saman Gunan was erected near the cave’s entrance and has attracted more than 1.3 million tourists since the 12 youngsters and the coach were saved. It seems appropriate that a 2^nd statue be erected to honor Petty Officer Beirut Pakbara for his ultimate sacrifice made while trying to save others.