AUSTRALIAN doctor Richard ‘Harry’ Harris has spoken out for the first time since the miraculous rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach.

The Adelaide anaesthetist and experienced cave diver, who has been hailed a “hero of the Thai people” and an “extraordinary Australian” for his pivotal role in the dangerous rescue mission, sent out a message of thanks today for the support that had been pouring in since the final boys were brought to safety on Tuesday night.

In a statement today with his dive partner, West Australian vet Craig Challen, Dr Harris said: “The favourable outcome that has been achieved is almost beyond our imagination when we first became involved in this operation.”

“We are humbled to have been able to provide our expertise and experience to assist in this international operation led by the Thai government.”

Heartfelt messages of support have been flooding in for Dr Harris, who made the dive into the cave for each rescue mission to assess the boys’ fitness to make the journey to the surface and to administer a small sedative to keep them calm on the way out.

There has also been an outpouring of support for the 53-year-old after it emerged yesterday his father had died just hours after the last of the boys were successfully rescued.

In their statement today, Dr Harris and Dr Challen said their “thanks and greatest admiration” went to the British lead divers on the mission and the support divers from the EU, US, China and Australia who helped pass the boys to safety in a “daisy chain” out of the cave.

They also acknowledged the “vast number of participants from military and civilian organisations in various support roles”.

“Additionally, we were only a small part of an Australian contingent comprising personnel from DFAT, AFP, and ADF who performed valuable roles,” the duo said.

“We particularly would like to thank the players and their coach for placing their trust in us. We wish them a speedy recovery. Thank you.”

PERTH RESCUER WAS PESSIMISTIC
THE retired Perth vet who helped rescue 12 boys and their coach from a perilous Thai cave was pessimistic the massive effort would be successful, his partner says.

Craig Challen was packing to go on a holiday to the Nullarbor with his diving buddy Richard “Harry” Harris on Thursday last week when his friend called and quickly changed their plans. The pair were on their way to Thailand within an hour.

“He did hold concerns for the whole situation. I think he went over there with a bit of a pessimistic view - he thought it was going to be a real challenge to get the boys out alive,” Heather Endall told ABC radio.

The revelation comes as rescue leaders showed vision of most of the boys smiling and waving to a camera as their parents, one of them crying, looked in at them through a glass partition at Chiangi Rai hospital.

The boys were lying in bed, or walking about, dressed in hospital whites, healthy but awaiting quarantine clearance as ecstatic relatives watched and waved from behind the glass barrier.

The 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from deep within a flooded cave in Thailand made the V-for-Victory sign from their hospital isolation ward where they are recovering from the 18-day ordeal.

Also revealed was footage from deep within the cave system, showing a boggy, dank and dark-brown underground river, into which torchlight could barely penetrate.

An American involved in the operation described the perilous zero visibility dives that brought the boys out safely as a “once in a lifetime rescue.”

Derek Anderson, a 32-year-old rescue specialist with the US Air Force based in Okinawa, Japan, said that at times during the risky rescue, the boys had to be put into harnesses and high-lined across the rocky caverns.

At other times, they endured dives lasting up to half an hour in the pitch-black waters.

“The world just needs to know that what was accomplished was a once in a lifetime rescue,” Anderson told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.

He said the boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, were “incredibly resilient.”

“What was really important was the coach and the boys all came together and discussed staying strong, having the will to live, having the will to survive,” Mr Anderson said.

The difficulties of working in the slimy and cramped caverns were grimly apparent.

Rear Admiral Apakorn Youkongkaew, head of Naval Special Warfare Command, said they had considered drilling through the mountain to get the boys, but found it would have been “like performing a herculean task”.

“We analysed and discussed how we were going to help these kids. We found our strengths and got the greatest divers in the world to come and help us.”

Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn said a life had been sacrificed to make the mission a success.

“We have lost petty officer first-class Saman Kunan. We will remember him as a hero. We used his determination to push through and make this a success.

“I have also been informed by the Prime Minister, who received a call from Ms Julie Bishop, the Australian Foreign Minister, on the passing of Dr Richard Harris’s father.

“I would like to express my deepest condolences for his great loss, and thank him for his contribution, for without him this mission would not have been a success.”

Narongsak revealed that as concerns grew about failing oxygen and rising carbon dioxide in the cave, the pressure was on.

Thai Navy SEALs “told us the kids are getting weaker, we have to get them out of the cave”.

“But for this task we had to put in the best performance, so we put oxygen tanks in many spots in the cave. We had to make the decision.

“One of the really important things was the pumping teams. Both inside the cave and outside the cave, they were really important. And there was another team diverting water.”

The boys will be monitored for some time to come to ensure they are mentally strong.

“The children should not be blamed for the incident,” said Narongsak.

“What happened was a misfortune that no one would like to see happen.”

He did not elaborate on the exact details of how and why the boys entered the cave with their coach.

NEW FOOTAGE INSIDE THE CAVE
More fotoage released by the Thai Navy SEALS on Facebook has revealed just how treacherous the rescue was and the elements they were up against. You can watch it below.

OPERATION INCREDIBLY RISKY
It took 13 countries to pull the 13 Wild Boars out of the flooded cave — along with some 2000 people and a whole lot of planning, good fortune and goodwill.

The images of the boys, found alive and well, perched on a muddy shelf amid rising waters nine days after they were lost on June 23, was initial cause for celebration.

But those who know the treachery of underground caves knew a huge challenge lay ahead.

Heavy rains were coming; there was a good chance the boys were already suffering from pneumonia or waterborne disease; and the Tham Luang’s 10km cave system was not even properly mapped.

Thailand’s friends reacted immediately and the Chiang Rai region’s departing governor, Narongsak Osotthanakorn, made sure they were welcome — so long as they were true professionals, not attention seekers.

Divers and disaster experts were quickly identified from within Australia, Britain, China, USA, Canada, Laos, Israel, Belgium, Myanmar, Finland, Denmark and Japan and converged on the rugged Chiang Rai region of northern Thailand to give the help urgently needed.

More than 100 Royal Thai Navy SEALs were already in place, having made preliminary expeditions into the cave, fast becoming inundated with rushing waters. They were backed by 1000 Thai military, plus hundreds of volunteers.

All options were on the table, including trying to locate a shaft to tunnel down to the boys. But diving them out was the fastest, and riskiest, method.

As university types cautioned against the water extraction, Narongsak knew it was the best hope.

A strategy was quickly agreed on. Air tanks would be positioned along the route. A safety guide line would be fastened through the tunnels.

A core group of 19 divers to rescue the boys were identified. And for each plan, a second and third contingency put in place should any link in the chain fail.

The six AFP and one Defence divers would not be among them — and that was no slap in the face.

They had been involved in exploratory dives but when duties were divided up, it was decided they would be located at base camps two and three, within the cave, moving tonnes of equipment, including food and tanks.

One Australian, an anaesthetist and cave diving expert, Richard Harris, would go to the frontline.

His task would be to check the boys and administer a mild sedative prior to departure — just enough so they would relax and not panic.

With the world watching and waiting, and three Thai Navy SEALs at his side, Dr Harris needed to keep his head.

“The amount of weight and pressure that was pushed on him, and the role he played, I have the utmost respect for everything that he’s done,” said the ADF’s Major Alex Rubin, talking to media in Chiang Rai.

“He is what I would consider personally as one of the most professional doctors I’ve ever met and his unique skills sets as a specialist doctor, and also as a cave diver, was quintessential to the success of this operation.”

Speaking in Chiang Rai, Commander McEwen and Major Alex Rubin from the Australian Defence Force gave a brief glimpse into an operation they described as difficult and intense.

They spoke briefly about Dr Richard Harris, who is now returning home after the death of his father.
“It’s amazing what the human being can do,” said Commander McEwen.

“There were extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. And when you have a common purpose, particularly when there’s a human element involved, everyone steps up.”

Dr Harris was assisted by Dr Craig Challen, veterinarian and cave diver from WA.

“He was essentially assisting him with all the dives, with carriage of equipment — quite a large responsibility that required a lot of specialist equipment,” said Major Rubin.

BOYS DRANK DRIPPING WATER TO SURVIVE
The 12 boys and soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand lost weight during their 18-day ordeal and in the days before their discovery survived by drinking water dripping into their refuge, a health official says.

The team members and coach “took care of themselves well in the cave,” Thongchai Lertwilairatanapong, a public health inspector, said at a news conference at the hospital in Chiang Rai.

The four boys rescued on Sunday can eat normal food and walk around, and the four pulled out on Monday were eating soft food.

Thongchai said one member of the final group of four boys and the coach who arrived at the hospital on Tuesday evening had a slight lung infection.

Two of the first group had a lung infection as well, and Thongchai said they would need medicine for seven days.

The average weight loss was 2kg for those with known information, Thongchai said. They were able to obtain water dripping inside the cave.

“To not receive food, we can still survive for many months but what’s necessary is water, which the cave has, and around this time there’s a lot in the cave, and they chose clean water to drink,” he said.

REPORTER PAUL TOOHEY’S PODCAST FROM CHIANG RAI

MISSION CARRIED ‘UNPRECEDENTED RISK’
The rescue involved long stays in the cave “moving approximately 20 tonnes of equipment through the caving system, of course it was a collective effort, and we cannot underscore the complexity and risk,” said Commander McEwen.

“We were fortunate enough with the pumps that were working that managed the water levels. Things do happen but all I can say is the risk remained high, the complexity remained high and the scale remained high.

“It was just perilous in nature.”

Commander McEwen said apart from Dr Harris, the main role of the six AFP and one Defence diver was to provide assistance in the second and third chambers, close to the entrance of the Tham Luang cave system.

Commander McEwen said working with the Thais, whom he described as highly focused, was an honour. As was being part of the effort to save the kids.

“Returning the Wild Boars soccer team safely into the arms of their loved ones is the good news of the year,” he said.

“I’ve proud to have been able to assist our Thai partners in this successful rescue in conjunction with our international colleagues,” Commander McEwen said.

“The complexity, scale and risk of the operation was unprecedented.

Six AFP specialist divers spent 75 hours in the cave system, assisted by a support crew of 10 people, during the rescue effort.

He went on to say that everyone who took part in the risky mission was a hero.

“The children who went through this ordeal in the cave are heroes in their own right, and the Thai SEALs went above and beyond,” the spokesman said.

“The leadership of the Thai authorities was exemplary.”

Commander McEwen batted away questions about the failure of a vital water pump that forced the Thai Navy SEALs to scramble after the cave started refilling with water.

“You could have a million ‘what ifs’, we’re here to celebrate the success,” Commander McEwen said.

According to ABC News the Thai Navy SEALs were lucky to make it out alive after the main water pump failed,

Having drained millions of litres of rainwater out of the cave during the gripping rescue mission, the main waterpump failed after the soccer coach and four Thai SEALs who volunteered to stay with the team were extracted.

Military officials tasked with clearing the Tham Luang cave were alarmed to see water levels rising, ABC News reported.

The first chamber was the first to fill, followed by the second and third, leaving crews scrambling to escape.

The sudden evacuation meant hundreds of airtanks and rescue equipment were left behind.

BOYS WERE RESCUED JUST IN TIME
The timing of the mission to rescue the remaining members of the trapped Thai soccer team could not have been more perfect, with monsoonal rains lashing Chiang Rai soon after the final five were extracted from the Tham Luang cave.

Thailand’s volatile weather had rescuers on edge throughout the gruelling rescue operation.

It was initially thought the boys could stay in the cave for as long as four months, but the risk of deadly flooding prompted authorities to swing into action sooner.

Footage shared by 7 News Journalist Chris Reason on Twitter shows the heavy rain bearing down near the caves where the team was trapped.

Rescuers worked around the clock to pump water from the waterlogged cave network.

On Sunday, their efforts appeared fruitful, when a heavy downpour did not raise water levels inside the cave, and allowed the extraction operation to proceed.

Thailand’s monsoon season runs from July until October.

ELON MUSK SOUR AT RESCUE OFFICIALS
Rescue officials who worked tirelessly in the risky mission to save the soccer team have come under fire from Elon Musk after they rejected his kid-sized submarine.

The billionaire flew the mini-sub — named Wild Boars — to Thailand, with hopes it would play a pivotal role in extracting the 12 boys from the waterlogged cave.

He said it was “light enough to be carried by two divers, small enough to get through narrow gaps” and “extremely robust”.

But while Governor Narongsak Osatthanakorn, the rescue chief, acknowledged the contraption was “technologically sophisticated”, it did not suit the rescue mission, which prompted a response from the SpaceX founder.

Musk criticised Osatthanakorn, saying he was “not the subject matter expert”, and that’d he been “described inaccurately as ‘rescue chief’.”

Despite this, Musk said he would leave the submarine in Thailand, and congratulated the rescue team.

“Great news that they made it out safely. Congratulations to an outstanding rescue team,” he said.