Teen survivor of Thai cave ordeal dies in Britain
One of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand during a dramatic operation in 2018 has died in Britain.
Seventeen-year-old Duangpetch Promthep, better known as Dom, was the captain of the Wild Boars football team that was stranded in Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand’s Chiang Rai province for more than two weeks.
He was found unconscious in his dormitory in Leicester on Sunday and died in hospital on Tuesday, the BBC reported.
He was on a football scholarship to Brooke House College Football Academy.
Non-profit organisation Zico Foundation, which was founded by Thai football manager Kiatisuk “Zico” Senamuang, confirmed the death and expressed its condolences in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
In August 2022, the foundation helped Dom secure the scholarship.
Titan Chanin Viboonrungruang, another boy rescued from the cave, also conveyed his condolences on Facebook on Wednesday.
“Brother, you told me that we would be achieving our football dream. You are one of the persons that push me and make me want to improve myself,” he wrote in Thai, according to the BBC report. “If the next world is real, I want us to play football together again, my brother Dom.”
Buddhist monk Supatpong Methigo, Dom’s former teacher, said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that the latter’s grandmother had informed the monks at the temple of his death.
“Nong Dom was a good kid who studied hard and wrote well. He could chant Buddhist prayers extremely well and received our praises often,” said the monk.
“May the soul of Duangpetch ‘Dom’ Promthep rest in a good world. A world that you desire.”
On June 23, 2018, the junior football team, comprising 12 players aged 11 to 16, and their assistant coach, explored the Tham Luang cave after a training session.
They were trapped inside for 18 days after monsoon rain filled up the cave rapidly, blocking their way out.
Military personnel, police officers, diving experts and volunteers from all over the world came together to help with the round-the-clock rescue efforts.
The boys and the assistant coach were rescued in three groups from July 8 to 10.
They were fitted with full-face breathing masks and sedated before being pulled to safety underwater.
Thai Navy Seal diver Saman Gunan died during the operation, the only fatality of the ordeal.
The Straits Times has contacted Zico Foundation and Brooke House College for comment.
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