Rick Stanton and John Volanthen, the pair who found the boys last Monday almost 10 days after they went missing.



Richard Stanton, left, and John Volanthen arrive in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province in northern Thailand on July 3, 2018.

The path out is dangerous, with twists and turns and narrow passages. But Mr Stanton and Mr Volanthen have a lot of experience.



When authorities in Thailand were assembling a group of rescuers to search for a soccer team lost in a flooded cave, one of their first calls went to a retired firefighter and an IT consultant in England.

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Rick Stanton and John Volanthen were the first to reach the 12 boys and their coach inside the Luang Nang Non Cave in Chiang Rai province on Monday.

It is their voices that can be heard talking to the boys and giving them calm reassurance in a dramatic video released by the Thai navy. They are working with Thai navy SEALs, who are leading the rescue operation.

Stanton, the retired firefighter from Coventry, and Volanthen, who does IT consulting work in Bristol, have years of experience in cave rescues and have helped map the Luang Nang Non Cave.

In 2010, they were involved in the attempted rescue of Eric Establie, a professional diver and caving expert from France.



Establie had been on a mission to map the Ardeche Gorge near Marseille in France, but a rock fall had blocked his exit.

Mr Stanton and Mr Volanthen were flown in by the RAF to help find Establie, and eight days after he went missing, they found his body 780 metres from the cave entrance.

“As soon as the French got in touch there was no question that I would not be going over,” Stanton said afterwards according to the Birmingham Mail.

http://tellmystory.com.ng/meet-richard-stanton-and-john-volanthen-the-british-expert-cave-divers-leading-the-thai-cave-rescue-mission/

Putting their own life at risk to save lifes

This is marvelous. Humanity on the highest peak.