Rain is slatting down across the entire cave system, causing the water levels to rise with every passing second. 2023 IndieWire Media, LLC. It proved a more difficult day than they anticipated. The entrepreneur posted footage of the vehicle on Twitter and suggested it could be used to help save the trapped teens. John has been involved in a number of search, rescue, and recovery incidents in the UK, Ireland, France and further afield. The moment you see the people who answer it, youll know why this ordeal had to be made into a movie. With a background in medical electronics, John has produced innovations to allow the exploration and mapping of ever deeper and more complex caves in a safe and controlled manner. This time the team launched their recovery from Steinugleflaget. Rick Stanton got an MBE for years of service. Unfortunately, we couldnt find any concrete details on Nattawut Tle Takamrong (then 14) or Phiraphat Night Somphiangchai (who celebrated his 17th birthday in the cave). Be confident in your abilities and ignore your detractors.. The pair first clashed over Mr Musk's offer of a mini-submarine to help with the cave rescue. It concedes that Unsworth was not involved in the final planning stages of the rescue because he didnt have enough experience to make the dive. Cave Divers faced the challenge of the narrow caves as they tried to reach the boys. asks Juan Reina. Thats where he carefully builds his skills, serves part-time at the Specialist Anaesthetic Service Medical Center, and works to expand his prospects as a public speaker and beyond. The Tesla founder responded with a series of tweets accusing Mr Unsworth of paedophilia. "My options were to try to pass that dead diver, or to turn around and try to do a very long dive back, go back to the deepest section and try to survive to the surface. But Stanton has an unusual hobby: He loves to cave-dive. He never married, and his house in England, cluttered with home-made diving equipment, once led a Sunday Telegraph journalist to describe him as not the cave How would they react when they came to the site of the accident, and had to handle their corpses? Mr Unsworth, in orange, provided information for the rescue, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Later Musk deleted the tweets and apologized after being criticized by shareholders, the lawsuit alleged, stating in a tweet that his words were spoken in anger and that the sub was built out of kindness according to specifications from the dive team leader. 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A new documentary, currently on release in Finland, depicts what happened. As for the rest of the boys, now-adults Ekkarat Biw Wongsukchan and Tee are still dedicated to soccer, Prachak Note Sutham is leading a good life alongside his girlfriend, and the engaged-to-be-married Phiphat Nick Phothi serves as a rescue center worker. Gronqvist is the first to surface, eventually, in Steinugleflaget, where Vesa Rantanen is waiting to greet him. As an anesthesia specialist as well as an experienced cave diver, Dr. Richard Harry Harris is arguably the one individual whose expertise led to the Wild Boars soccer teams successful rescue. Mr. Unsworth has never engaged in an act of pedophilia. The kids are already stuck (and possibly already dead), the Thai Navy SEALs trained only in open-water diving are thwarted by a drowned labyrinth of mud and darkness at every turn, and how to reach the inner cavities of the cave system is an open question posed to the rest of the planet. Rick Stanton - Wikipedia Equipped with a dry sense of humour and a passing physical resemblance to Hollywood tough guy Vin Diesel, Paakkarinen had been diving longer than any of the others. WebVolanthen frequently cave dives and conducts rescues with a partner, Richard Stanton . Read about our approach to external linking. "Why do these guys who have families and everything, why do they go to these harsh places?" At the time of the accident he was teaching a diving course in Mexico. Nobody has made a new attempt at the traverse, but Sami Paakkarinen says for him it's only a matter of time. How Viggo Mortensen Transformed into the Cave Diver Who It was a preposterous plan: Behind the scenes of the Thai cave rescue Rick Stanton was one of the divers who saved 12 boys and their football coach from a These include and underwater mapping device, communications systems and state of the art, micro rebreathers, allowing divers to stay underwater longer than was previously possible. Harper, who had just returned from exploring Thai caves with Unsworth, brought two other divers, John Volanthen and Rick Stanton, to help with the rescue. Thirteen Lessons that Saved Thirteen Lives (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The destination for all five men was Steinugleflaget. Photographs courtesy of RICK STANTON Best known as the first diver to locate and contact the missing youth Thai soccer team alongside long time diving partner Rick Stanton. Best known as the first diver to locate and contact the missing youth Thai soccer team alongside long time diving partner Rick Stanton. Their Thai Cave Rescue Film Was Done. Then 87 Hours of Footage This time they took no chances. The last soccer player was rescued July 8. Together with Mr. Unsworth, Mr. Harper, Mr. Volanthen, and Mr. Stanton put together the dive portion of the rescue plan that ultimately saved the boys, the lawsuit stated. They were Finnish divers who knew one another from explorations they had made of the Ojamo mine, west of Helsinki. After a brief effort to free the body, he forced himself to calm down. Cave divers the world over need to have remarkable self-command, but Diving into the Unknown can be seen as a study in a character trait beloved of Finns - sisu, grit in the face of adversity. Eventually he fielded a Skype call from the British cave diver Rick Stanton. In other words that the person making the statement knew it to be false and went on to make it. British divers at heart of Thai cave rescue among best in world "I decided to go forward, and that was a very good decision for me. Cutting his equipment away, they manage to release the body and negotiate it through the narrow part of the cave. Although John Volanthen wished to keep his distance from the limelight following the events of 2018, he has not shied away from sharing his side of the story to indicate hes not a hero, just a skilled diver. Paakkarinen says that he sensed the Norwegian police were pleased that they had recovered the bodies, but "they let us know that we had broken some rules and they had to investigate that". That's why I wanted to take the viewers on that journey. Cave Up until the summer of 2018, not many people had heard of Stanton. Hes an old, single white guy from England whos been traveling or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years, Musk wrote, adding that Unsworth moved in Thailand for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time, according to the lawsuit. That feat is all the more impressive considering the insanity of the plan that Dr. Richard Harris devises to get the kids out of the cave without drowning. A separate suit will follow in London, the filing says. Stanton is on [] As if thats not enough, he has even obtained a Bravery Award from his home county of Somerset, South West England he resides in the village of Cheddar here with his wife, Laura Trowbridge. Would they become upset and breathe more quickly, or make a silly mistake that could lead to another tragedy? But Paakkarinen says that leaving bodies in the Norwegian cave would have been like leaving victims of a car crash by the side of the road. Diving hobbyists can climb out of the water here to admire the grotto, before returning to Plura. Most populous nation: Should India rejoice or panic? Thanks to the rescue team cameras, viewers will see the first time the divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthan emerged from the cave having found the boys as well Having the bodies would help the families grieve, and would also help to prevent lengthy delays to insurance and inheritance settlements. By the time he reached Plura, he had to break a thin layer of ice to climb out of the water. In fact, not only does he continue to be an active diving member of the Cave Rescue Organisation, but he has also served as a consultant on projects related to the Thai case. We should mention the cycling enthusiast is actually so respected in his field that hes now deemed a highly-sought speaker at any caving, diving, rescuing, and adventure conferences. Yes, Vasarhelyi and Chin have cobbled together a true life men-on-a-mission movie intense enough that even Michael Bay and Peter Berg should be able to recognize that no mega-budget dramatization could match up to it. The filing also says Mr Unsworth is seeking "punitive damages" as well as the compensation, "to punish him for his wrongdoing and deter him from repeating such heinous conduct". The trip was at the extreme end of a dangerous sport. He was diving with his good friend Jari Huotarinen, who was attempting the traverse for the first time. There was nothing for it but to continue to Steinugleflaget - very slowly. Described as the A Team of Unsworth has a significant other in Thailand, a 40-year-old woman with whom he shares a house, according to the lawsuit. Having explored underwater caves for decades, John relates lessons in risk management, problem solving and teamwork to a worldwide business audience. "It's a code that no-one is left behind," he says. More than 100 police hurt in French May Day protests, Fighter jets are roaring over my home in Sudan, JP Morgan snaps up troubled US bank First Republic. "Everyone was waiting for the SMS," he says. Get The Latest IndieWire Alerts And Newsletters Delivered Directly To Your Inbox. The situation is already tinged with anxious dread by the time that Rick and Jonathan arrive, as hopes are fading that the Wild Boars might still be alive. "But these two people should never have died in the first place.". He works as a part-time Specialist This was a communal effort on a global scale, and while the size of the films ensemble cast forces The Rescue to make some unfortunate concessions along the way (the Thai perspective is sorely lacking from a story that never sheds its foreigners POV), the teamwork required to pull off this miracle is powerful tribute to what people are capable of when they put their minds together and feel personally responsible for solving a problem. A British cave diver is suing tech billionaire Elon Musk for defamation after his repeated claims the diver is a child abuser. He and his friends also knew that there was a chance that part of northern Europe's biggest wet cave system would remain closed to the sport forever if they failed. He said "this was completely uncharted, unprecedented territory and nothing like this has been done." Is climate change killing Australian wine? From what we can tell, a majority of the rescuees still reside in their native province of Chiang Rai in Thailand, where they continue to devote themselves to the sport as well as their education. The billionaire also said he hoped Mr Unsworth would sue him. To Gronqvist's horror, his friend died in front of his eyes - but getting agitated would put Gronqvist himself at risk of hypercapnia. "Musk's influence and wealth cannot convert his lies into truth or protect him from accountability for his wrongdoing in a court of law," Mr Unsworth's US attorney, L Lin Wood, said. But then again, we have the best knowledge of the place, we are the original explorers of the place, we know the place like our own pockets.". To view this content choose accept and continue. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! The Musk and engineers from his rocket company, SpaceX, built a small submarine and shipped it to Thailand to help with the rescue. ', 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. Two teams of support divers would work at shallower levels at both ends of the traverse, while Gronqvist, Paakkarinen and Kankanen would dive once again to the deepest section of the cave to raise the bodies up. Retired firefighter Rick Stanton is an almost 60-year-old British man who vaguely resembles the Hound from Game of Thrones, and seems to possess equivalent social graces. Thai cave rescue: Rick Stanton says he As was the custom of the group, no-one was in overall command, but the first diver to set off was Patrik Gronqvist, one of a trio of Finns who had discovered the passage between the caves the year before. He felt unable to go in the water to teach, but he was unsure what he could usefully do. He first started going to Thailand in 2011, where he explored and mapped caves, the documents stated. A British diver who helped rescue soccer players trapped in a Thai cave is suing Musk, alleging that the Tesla CEO falsely accused him of being a pedophile. The documents said a separate lawsuit would be filed in England. From Barbie to The Flash, Here Are the Movies That Made the Biggest Impact at CinemaCon. It's well known that some of the world's most challenging peaks are dotted with the remains of mountaineers whose bodies could not be safely retrieved. Divernet on March 16, 2022 at 11:55 am Advertisements Scuba Diver chats to cave-diving legend Rick Stanton, and finds out what lured him underground in the first place, the challenges of some of his more epic cave dives, and what it was like to be in the midst of the worlds greatest dive rescue. British divers at heart of Thai cave rescue among best in world | Thailand | The Guardian. You never know where they might take you. He had trained both the victims and counted them as good friends. John played a key role in the Tham Luang Thailand cave rescue. This is a pocket of air that divers can use during decompression stops, allowing them to get out of the cold water, remove their masks and even eat. To get in touch, please email This Article is related to: Film, Reviews and tagged free solo, Reviews, Telluride Film Festival, The Rescue. Cave As someone who has dedicated a significant portion of his life to cave diving, Richard Rick Stanton continues to keep it up to the best of his abilities while spreading knowledge of the same. British diver who rescued by Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent. "The deeper part is very demanding, very cold water and narrow tunnels, and deep as well - it is the world's deepest sump that has been dived through," says Gronqvist. The active member of the British Cave Rescue Councils international team has 30+ years of experience, along with national/world records under his belt, making it clear hes perfectly qualified for his job. He also said Musk can stick his submarine somewhere where it hurts., The lawsuit alleges that Musk, apparently angered by Unsworths remarks, began a campaign to destroy his reputation by publishing false and heinous accusations of criminality against him to the public., In a series of tweets July 15, Musk, who personally delivered the submarine to the cave, wrote that he never saw Unsworth and challenged him to show a video of the final rescue. Living in Bristol, in the UK, John spends his spare time running ultra marathons. Because he began to run low on gas he was forced to surface 80 minutes early. Vesa Rantanen, who was still recovering from a spinal injury caused by his decompression sickness, would be surface manager. Musk called Unsworth a pedo in a tweet to his 22.5 million followers after Unsworth criticized Musk in a July 13 television interview with CNN about the rescue. Did you know that one of the experts that rescued the trapped Thai schoolboys was a hero firefighter and cave diver from Coventry? But unlike Vesa Rantanen, Kankanen decided not to push through to Steinugleflaget. For Rick Stanton, the British diver from the first, aborted, recovery mission, the Finns' effort was well-planned and executed, if "a little bit out-there in terms of danger". In gripping footage, the divers' torches catch the jagged edges of the cave walls. The boys, ages 11-16, were found July 2 by Volanthen and Stanton, according to the lawsuit. It says Mr Musk sometimes used his Twitter account and emails to "publish to the world false and defamatory accusations" against the Briton. Mr Unsworth filed the suit in California. National Geographic will release it in theaters later this year. For this reason, Paakkarinen says they tried to process "all the emotional stuff" in the month leading up to the rescue, so that when the time came they could focus on the task in hand, working almost like robots. He was also made a Member of the Order of the British Empire, and then he additionally acquired the Hero of the Year Award at the West Midland Fire Services Aspire Awards in 2021. Its a wonder how Vasarhelyi and Chin found this guy before Werner Herzog could invent him. He was using his torch to signal distress. Using his background in medical electronics, John has built and sold 2 Information technology businesses. He actually prefers to keep every aspect of his life away from the limelight, so we regrettably dont know much about him apart from the fact he specializes as a rope-access technician in cave diving. The first diver in the second team was Vesa Rantanen. Diver Vernon Unsworth, who lives north of London, contends that Musk made the false allegation on Twitter and then repeated multiple other falsehoods after the dramatic rescue of a dozen youth soccer players and their coach in July. He was the first foreign rescuer to arrive. When 12 members of a junior soccer team by the name of Wild Boars and their assistant coach decided to explore the Tham Luang caves on June 23, 2018, they never expected it to become an ordeal. Later on Twitter, Musk wrote Bet ya a signed dollar its true.. "It is very easy to judge them if you have never explored that world, if you've never been on the journey with them. Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! But the mission had to be planned in secret. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. John Volanthen - Wikipedia He never married and has dedicated his life to cave-diving, in which he has become one of the most accomplished people in the world. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. The Rescue premiered at the 2021 Telluride Film Festival. normal' for Thai cave rescuer who lives in Clare "This incident happened, and then they've made a film and they all come out as heroes," he says. Paakkarinen spoke to the three survivors on the phone from hospital, then spent the day walking around his hotel courtyard. 2023 BBC. Hypercapnia can be deadly, but even a mild case may cause confusion and disorientation, which in a deep cave is liable to have serious consequences. He was offered free legal services. The lawsuit states that with the tweet, Musk sought to tell the average reader that Unsworths failure to sue at the time was evidence that Unsworth is a pedophile. Norwegian police believe Uusimaki panicked after he reached the scene of the first accident. Described as the A Team of diving rescues by the British Cave Rescue Council, he also planned and participated in the childrens rescue. Thai cave dive rescue: Diver Rick Stanton reflects on the - 9News There is also the possibility of equipment failure, and hypercapnia - carbon dioxide poisoning. And our white bread heroes who, similar to Free Solo protagonist Alex Honnold, have trouble communicating with other people as it is find themselves lost in translation between the Royal Thai Navy and the U.S. Special Forces whove shown up for some extra muscle. Although he later deleted the tweets and offered an apology to the diver, Mr Musk reignited the row earlier this month. Looking upset, he explains in the film that he slept badly and is simply not in the right frame of mind for the operation. The blockbuster vibe continues through the films characterizations, which are involving enough in broad strokes, but considerably less detailed than the helpful 3D renderings that Vasarhelyi and Chin have commissioned of the cave network; disorientation may be a constant threat to the divers, but The Rescue does such a fine job of orienting us to its environs that we soon know the various cave chambers by number. Then, just 20m or so further on they encounter Jari Huotarinen, exactly as Gronqvist had left him seven weeks earlier. Stanton was also part of a team that attempted a cave rescue of Eric Establie, in the Dragonnire Gaud Cave near Labastide-de-Virac in the Ardche region of France, in 2010 which was ultimately unsuccessful. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Subscribe to the BBC News Magazine's email newsletter to get articles sent to your inbox. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. He says that while people who have never been cave diving might think it's so dangerous that a few people will inevitably die, with proper training and planning, accidents such as this should never happen to experienced divers. "There are lots of questions - the original questions - about where the cave goes, and where the water comes from, and they are still there," he says. Read about our approach to external linking. In all, a team of 27 people descended on Plurdalen on 22 March 2014 - 17 Finns and 10 Norwegians. Rick has deliberately never married or started a family because his work is his whole life, which he touched upon in his June 2021 book Aquanaut: A Life Beneath the Surface The Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue.. Johns success hinges on an innovative approach, designing equipment and procedures to solve the unique difficulties presented by each cave. Paakkarinen and Gronqvist continue the descent alone. The following afternoon they went to the local police station. Two days after the Aug. 28 tweet, Musk emailed a BuzzFeed News reporter, suggesting that the reporter investigate Unsworth and stop defending child rapists, according to the lawsuit, which is 65 pages with exhibits. So the Norwegian police called off the recovery. On 6 February 2014, two divers cut a triangular hole in the ice at Plura, and, encased in waterproof dry suits and diving equipment, slipped into the water. Cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen inside cave (Credit: National Geographic) But what we get extra here are the nuggets the small, more intimate moments. A British diver who helped to save 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand has insisted he was not a hero. We hear the clanking of their gas cylinders and the intermittent whirring of underwater scooters. Instead, the atmosphere is one of intense single-mindedness, as the team discuss how to manoeuvre the bodies through the water, and preserve them until the police, notified after the fact, could come and collect them. Obsessively. In February 2014 two divers died at a depth of more than 100m in a huge cave system in Norway. Unsworth will not do interviews, Wood said, but the attorney said in a statement that Musks wealth cannot convert his lies into truth or protect him from accountability for his wrongdoing in a court of law., Unsworths British lawyer, Mark Stephens, said that Twibels (Twitter libels) show that falsehoods by the rich and powerful can circulate round the globe to their 22.5 million followers and to the media before the truth can pull its boots on.. "I don't say that there was no risk to us," says Paakkarinen. The Lufthansa electrician took up cave diving 20 years ago, and exploration became his passion after he moved to Ireland. Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. He was [email protected], or visit the contact page. He isnt happy unless hes swimming around a claustrophobic hellscape and exploring some of the only alien terrain left on Earth. These symptoms of decompression sickness - often called "the bends" - grew steadily more serious over the following hours. 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 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. British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton were the two divers who first discovered the 12 boys and their coach in the cave system. "It's not that they are just enjoying the thrill of risking their lives - there's more to it than that. Gronqvist gave him a cylinder of gas to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in his system, but while Huotarinen was switching mouthpieces, he started helplessly swallowing water. The divers head towards the site of the accident, Sami Paakkarinen calls the Norwegian authorities to inform them of the illegal rescue, The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Sure enough, before long Stanton received a request for help from the Norwegian police, and two weeks later, he and two other British divers, John Volanthen and Jason Mallinson, clambered into Steinugleflaget. Vernon Unsworth helped with the rescue of 12 Thai teenagers from a flooded cave in July. In 2018. Harry Harris lives in Goodwood, South Australia, with his wife, Fiona, with whom he has three kids- James, Charlie, and Millie. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court Monday seeks more than $75,000 in damages and a court order stopping Musk from making further allegations. This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Its hence no surprise that he has since been awarded the Star of Courage, the Medal of the Order of Australia, the Order of the Direkgunabhorn, and the title of Australian of the Year (2019). (AFP) Mr Stanton's passion is more like an obsession, and he has dedicated his It was a preposterous plan: Behind the scenes of the Thai And about 90m above the cave's vaulted ceiling lies your exit - a crack in the collapsed side of a hill. The secret mine that hid the Nazis' stolen treasure. Read about our approach to external linking. A British cave diver is suing tech billionaire Elon Musk for defamation after his repeated claims the diver is a child abuser.