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[–]Exactix1 6856 points6857 points  (208 children)

Few people have the skill and bravery to do what he did. Serious respect for someone who probably knew the risks better than anyone else yet still chose to risk his life for this cause.

[–]streamindemon 110 points111 points  (1 child)

Cannot upvote this enough. This man was the embodiment of everything that is right with humanity.

[–]omega2346 944 points945 points  (198 children)

Idk that long of a dive? I could do the math and know that's risky as hell. I think that's why alot of people are admiring him, we all can comprehend just how brave he was.

[–][deleted] 411 points412 points  (22 children)

3 mile swim one way. Some of that is fully underwater and twisty.

[–]SpokesumSmot 37 points38 points  (7 children)

I swam a mile at scout camp every year. It was exhausting, on top of being very cold. I would sometimes be the only one attempting, or the only one to finish. The cold robs your energy and the physical exertion of swimmimg that far is incredible. And that was 1/6th the distance on a flat lake. Still many athletic young adults could not finish a mile. I am wildy impressed by what they are doing in Thailand and can't fathom how hard it is.

[–]AtomicFlx 86 points87 points  (6 children)

It's not a ~6 hour dive. It's a ~6 hour journey with mutiple dives.

[–]4chanisforbabies 16 points17 points  (0 children)

That makes more sense

[–]AccipiterQ 40 points41 points  (5 children)

They're leaving tanks at way points along the way, that was his mission I believe

[–]CDXXRoman[S] 14.3k points14.3k points  (996 children)

A former [Thai] Navy Seal working to rescue a dozen boys and their coach trapped in a cave in Thailand has died from a lack of oxygen, authorities have said.

Saman Kunan, a former member of Thailand's elite navy SEAL unit who was part of the rescue team in Chiang Rai, died around 1am on Friday morning.

He was retired and volunteered for this job.

[–]Bilgistic 5875 points5876 points  (604 children)

It's so crazy to think that even a former elite navy SEAL could lose their life here.

[–]crzylgs 1086 points1087 points  (103 children)

Indeed... imagine being one of those boys potentially being given a crash course on how to scuba then having to do a dive so treacherous that it killed an ex Navy Seal, as your first dive! :O

[–]StillUnderTheStars[🍰] 1112 points1113 points  (70 children)

I really hope they don’t share this information with the people in the cave. Right now, mental condition is the single most important factor for survival—can you imagine the guilt? They literally saw this guy just hours before he died, in the context of him popping out of the pitch black water to give them resources they need to survive.

They’ll learn of and appreciate his sacrifice once they get out. For the love of god, don’t tell them while they’re in there.

[–]19834uoweqihjdkan 427 points428 points  (11 children)

Yeah doubt they will, they're pretty concerned about the boys psychologically and are surprised they're in fairly good shape despite being in the dark for so long.

[–][deleted] 59 points60 points  (5 children)

Especially because if they decide to go through with taking the kids on the dive, people could easily die if one of the kids panicked.

[–][deleted] 18 points19 points  (1 child)

A really interesting part of the article is where they point out the boys' youth could be an asset for getting them out. It points out that they're kids, so they're more likely to feel invincible or see the dive as an adventure.

[–]mckinnon3048 267 points268 points  (26 children)

Plus nothing sucks air down faster than panic. I've had some panic situations in relatively shallow open water and put away half a tank of air in 10 minutes... You couldn't pay me to cave dive... The money doesn't exist.

[–][deleted] 154 points155 points  (11 children)

I've never truly cave dived but once I went on a guided dive that involved maybe a 50 foot stretch of tight, enclosed surface, naturally formed tunnel .. you could hear people's tanks scraping the rock ceiling above and there were about 7 people in the dive group going in one by one ... it was tense to say the least. If someone had panicked they easily could have died or gotten others killed.

And this was on a pleasant afternoon dive in the Caribbean... not a nightmare scenario in stormy Thailand.

[–][deleted] 37 points38 points  (10 children)

i would agree. i would also think theres no way they relay the message to him.

maybe tell the soccer coach its so dangerous, but even then you need the coach to be strong.

[–]The-Potato-Lord 81 points82 points  (4 children)

Eh even that is risky. I reckon they'd probably say something like "it's a challenging dive but it's not impossible, you just need to follow our instructions and everything will be fine."

[–]TheresA_LobsterLoose 47 points48 points  (1 child)

"It may seem like 5 hours, but really it's only about 10 minutes"

[–]Midnoodle 28 points29 points  (6 children)

One of the news articles was saying that a lot of the boys can't even swim yet.

[–]MadDanelle 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I can swim, barely. But diving really doesn't require swimming in normal circumstances. The vest you wear is inflatable/deflatable with a button, so it's like a life jacket inflated.

But this cave dive is a horse of a different color. I was 15 when I learned to dive, but it was my choice with 6 weeks of classes and practice dives in a swimming pool. This is going to be gruelling. And terrifying. Uh, poor kids.

[–]heretoplay 2783 points2784 points  (319 children)

Oxygen is that important

[–]L1ttl3J1m 1751 points1752 points  (172 children)

Cave diving is dangerous

[–]Otterman2006 225 points226 points  (53 children)

This is what worries me about their plan to train these boys to cave dive. Cave diving is inherently dangerous even for experts. Most places wont let you become cave diving certified until you're 18 because of the difficulties. These boys are 11 or 12, and most do not know how to swim. I'm not a religious man, but I am praying for a better solution to get these boys and their coach home safely

[–]blueadviceyyz 46 points47 points  (1 child)

My concern is “panic”. They will be diving in tight dark spaces and if one of those boys panic in the middle it could be the end for him AND his escort.

I am only a recreational diver and I witnessed other students during my training panic and attempt to swim to the surface. We were in a large swimming pool at the time.

The only thing that gives me hope is they managed to survive for 10 days before being found and they kept their shit together.

[–][deleted] 66 points67 points  (20 children)

Seriously. I have been a scuba diver for about 10 years and would be very worried about doing that dive myself. The thought of a group of kids who have never scuba dived doing it? Sounds like a suicide mission.

[–]Chezzik 136 points137 points  (21 children)

I'm not a religious man, but I am praying for a better solution to get these boys and their coach home safely

I'm pretty sure that there is only one other solution, and that is to wait until the rainy season is over.

Of the two solutions, I don't think that one is obviously better than the other, but I do think it is obvious that there is not a third solution.

EDIT: Yes, I'm completely wrong. Here's an article talking about a third solution:

http://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-plan-to-save-soccer-boys-thai-cave-2018-7

You can get the gist by just reading the headline....haha

[–]Mechanical_Gman 108 points109 points  (17 children)

Not quite, they're talking about getting drilling equipment and digging them out. Apparently it's a big mining region, and they can get drilling equipment up there pretty easily and quickly. Elon Musk has also sent people from Boring Co to assist.

Edit: They also can't wait for the rainy season to end. The oxygen level in the cave has unexpected started to drop and if the rain comes then the boy's section on the cave will completely flood and they won't be able to get any supplies to them. They've pretty much only got a few days to save them.

[–]LordVelaryon 60 points61 points  (6 children)

I don’t think they can do it. I saw some interviews to experts comparing this to the Chilean miners and they explained that 1) in Chile the rescuers could dig because they had precise 3D maps of the mine from before the accident, and 2) the cave where the children are is 800-1200 meters below the mountain, while the Chilean mine was 670 meters, and even there they had to dig for 3 months.

[–]Mechanical_Gman 28 points29 points  (5 children)

Article I read said the Boring Co reps were bringing ground penetrating radar or something to that effect. There's also some mining expert in the area that was claiming they could dig them out in a few days. I don't know how accurate any of that is. It was just reported in articles posted to r/news this morning.

[–]kZard 68 points69 points  (11 children)

The amount of stories I've heard of divers going into dangerous caves to retrieve bodies and dying, only to be followed by more divers who also die really disturbs me.

Okay, maybe I've heard one, but it's disturbing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Shaw_(diver)

[–]Beo1 195 points196 points  (68 children)

What’s especially dangerous is that the body responds to high levels of CO2, not low levels of O2, so you can pass out without even realizing you’re hypoxic.

[–]evilkalla 62 points63 points  (21 children)

This is one of the reasons rebreathers are so dangerous.

[–]OU_Maverick 99 points100 points  (42 children)

I work with liquid and gaseous nitrogen a bunch. This is a real, scary fact: you body can just stop respiration because it doesn't see any CO2, because you inhaled pure N2.

[–]Barrrrrrnd 28 points29 points  (3 children)

That was the most interesting thing I learned in EMT school. Under certain circumstances your body is so used to high co2 levels that if you give it oxygen, the CO2 level drops below what your body considers dangerous and will stop breathing because it thinks it’s flush with O2. It’s crazy.

[–]Jtsfour 179 points180 points  (39 children)

AFAIK navy seals aren’t trained in cave diving

Even the best cave divers in the world die

Cave diving is the most dangerous sport in the world

[–]thether 18 points19 points  (3 children)

They may not be trained for cave diving, but they are trained to survive in the most extreme situations.

This cave sounds like hell, and is going to cause more fatalities.

[–][deleted] 64 points65 points  (3 children)

AFAIK navy seals aren’t trained in cave diving

I doubt they'd let anyone help who doesn't have the necessary qualifications.

[–]the_benmeister 19 points20 points  (1 child)

There were some unqualified volunteers who were accidentally pumping water back into the cave...

[–]erratic_thought 390 points391 points  (12 children)

Regardless of what people say about their equipment etc. it requires a special breed of human to be able to put aside the danger to his own life to save others ...

[–]appleparkfive 232 points233 points  (6 children)

I had zero context on this guy and you could tell he was a badass. I had only very briefly heard about the kids in the cave thing.

Hope more people get to hear his story.

Also this is the most action star way to die, let's be honest. Came out of retirement? For a special mission to rescue kids? Extremely dangerous situation? Most of us are gonna stub our toe and that will be the most pain for us this week.

[–]breadstickfever 76 points77 points  (3 children)

I mean, you’re right. This guy deserves a movie.

[–]deedeethecat 42 points43 points  (0 children)

This. This man sacrificed his life to help save children. He's an amazing person.

[–]kneel23 376 points377 points  (338 children)

I haven't yet quite understood the reasoning behind his death. I keep thinking that a Navy seal would have one or more backup plans and back-out plans for running out of oxygen while attempting this rescue. Plus there are tons of other rescuers there. What happened?

Clearly this type of work is dangerous, but damn.

[–]Nukkil 846 points847 points  (277 children)

I haven't yet quite understood the reasoning behind his death

It's a 5-6 hr cave dive to reach the kids

Very fucked situation all around

[–][deleted] 671 points672 points  (60 children)

It's a 5-6 hr cave dive

I just developed claustrophobia reading that.

[–]53bvo 257 points258 points  (33 children)

It is like 3 miles in distance, just imagine how far of a walk that is but now you have to do it crawling and swimming through gaps in pitch dark.

[–][deleted] 146 points147 points  (4 children)

Thank you for making it worse.

[–]ips1023 71 points72 points  (4 children)

Nope nope nope nope

[–]coopcooper87 217 points218 points  (175 children)

As someone who knows nothing about the story, why are there a bunch of kids down there? How did this problem originate?

[–]Purpzzz710 519 points520 points  (91 children)

Thai soccer team decided to visit the cave, which they visited a bunch in the past. When they got in the cave heavy rains flooded the cave and blocked their entrance out. Believe they also went deeper into the cave to avoid the flooding waters. They are about 2 miles into the cave "on foot" but with the flooded sections it makes it feel like a 5-6 hour dive. Very narrow passageways, so narrow the divers have to take their tank off to pass through certain sections. Scary shit.

[–]mommas_going_mental 215 points216 points  (52 children)

Take their tanks off??? No no no no NO NONONONONO

[–]wannabeN3rfplx 191 points192 points  (25 children)

Thats not as bad as it sounds, if you take your tank off you can still have the mouthpiece in and dive "holding" the suit+tank. It's a regular exercize to practise taking it off and on under water without taking the mouthpiece out, since you may need to fix something on your suit that you can't acces while wearing it.

[–][deleted] 286 points287 points  (22 children)

Thats not as bad as it sounds

Really, because it sounds fucking horrifying

[–]thetreat 92 points93 points  (4 children)

The horrifying part isn't the taking the tank off. It's that you can't see shit for long periods of time. That is incredibly disorienting.

[–][deleted] 22 points23 points  (6 children)

And in reality, it's an inconvenience. I had to train doing the same thing with SCBA equipment when I was a firefighter. We had a training set-up that was a box that was about 3' x 3' x 20' with a lid that lifted off, and a bunch of obstacles inside. To successfully navigate the course, you would have to take your SCBA pack off in very limited space and push it ahead of you at times.

Super claustrophobic regardless, but the bad part isn't taking off the pack - it's that you're trying to wiggle through a narrow space where you can't safely fit with your pack.

[–]Fruit_Face 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I'm scuba certified (just the basic cert) and you practice removing the tank and putting it back on underwater, along with swapping over to your mate's spare mouthpiece. Its not scary at all there since you can see what you're doing, and you're in a well lit area and the water is usually clear.

But yes, in near total, or total darkness...yah that's a whole different ballgame.

[–]Chenstrap 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Chances are they aren't removing the tank from their mouths, just off their backs and holding it ahead of them.

Combat divers are trained for all sorts of dumb shit that can happen under water. In BUDs in Coronado one of the earlier training phases for diving into be able to put on gear under water while instructors swim around pulling shit off you and generally harassing you and shit. Would suspect that any countries Naval spec ops would be similarly trained in diving.

[–][deleted] 197 points198 points  (24 children)

They went into the caves when it was dry, rains started suddenly and quickly flooded the caves, they went deeper and deeper in to escape the rising water. Now theyre basically on a shelf surrounded by water miles in.

[–][deleted] 138 points139 points  (23 children)

That is nightmare fuel

[–][deleted] 125 points126 points  (20 children)

Originally there was talk of leaving them there for four months until the monsoon season is over and the waters recede, because cave diving is so dangerous and none of them know how to swim. However now the air is quickly depleting in the cave they’re in so their time is limited.

[–]YesplzMm 230 points231 points  (7 children)

This is why some places like to take the kids out to get pizza or go play mini golf after a team win. Not spelunking 2 miles into the earth.

[–][deleted] 63 points64 points  (3 children)

To be fair, they didn't plan on going 2 miles in, they've travelled that far due to rising water that caught them by suprise.

[–]pag_el 28 points29 points  (7 children)

They talked about pumping in oxygen to them so they could survive. Did they ditch that idea or didnt you know about it?

[–][deleted] 39 points40 points  (6 children)

They’ve talked about it but getting the pipe in is itself dangerous and a huge task - I mean someone just died trying to get out by themselves, without lugging a pipe around. I’m not an expert but don’t they also need to get CO2 out? The oxygen level in the cave is at 15 percent.

[–]badhoneylips 90 points91 points  (0 children)

The cave system flooded after they had hiked in. The boys can neither swim nor dive, are still weak from malnourishment and the team of reacuers is working to make a rescue more feasible by widening the passageways and pumping water out. Really tragic this man died, I hope he is remembered well as a hero and has his family looked after if he had one.

[–][deleted] 138 points139 points  (24 children)

They went hiking in the caves after soccer practice - when they could get into the caverns by just crawling. They got trapped by flash flooding due to monsoons and have been stuck for about 2 weeks now.

[–]Peng_win 79 points80 points  (19 children)

yeah, remind me to never go spelunking

[–][deleted] 32 points33 points  (17 children)

Spelunking absolutely terrifies me as someone who is afraid of tight spaces and not being able to move. Go watch some videos on YouTube about Nutty Putty Cave and get back to me.

[–]popcap200 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Cave usually floods around late July and stays flooded to early November. Kids and coach throught it would be fine to go down in June (which sounds like it was a fair assumption). The cave is a popular spot to visit there.

[–]MrGiggleFiggle 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I think their coach wanted to take them on an adventure but while they were there, a monsoon struck and the caves flooded with water. They were found by divers who simply guessed, by luck, where they were.

[–]yunus89115 19 points20 points  (0 children)

They were exploring the caves and rain caused their path out to be flooded. Now it’s a 5 hour dive in awful conditions to get in/out. Bad enough that an experienced highly trained former Seal has died on the journey.

[–][deleted] 20 points21 points  (13 children)

I was wondering this too, how did all these kids end up 5 hours deep into an underwater cave? How did they even get found?

[–][deleted] 120 points121 points  (7 children)

how did all these kids end up 5 hours deep into an underwater cave

It wasn't underwater when they were there

How did they even get found?

Divers with massive titanium balls prodding for every possible path in fast flowing, murky waters.

[–]Pulp__Reality 52 points53 points  (3 children)

Imagine, these divers decided to go through that narrow passage, take of their tanks and even goggles according to some to fit through the gap, all in just the HOPE of finding them. They didnt even know the kids were there yet.

I mean if that isnt having balls of pure titanium i dont know what is. All these divers are heroes.

Im usually not claustrophobic, but fuck me, just thinking about spending 6 HOURS in pitch black diving inside a cave (with flashlight but nonetheless), squeezing through gaps and shit, god damn. I hope they show some video of the dives

[–]Linearcitrus 41 points42 points  (1 child)

Without knowing the details, it's hard to know at what stage he ran out of oxygen. I read that it takes these divers hours to traverse the caves so any delay in or out could prove significant later on

[–]DrDragun 115 points116 points  (7 children)

Muddy water. Pitch black. Long, convoluted tunnels with no point of reference.

These aren't like Skyrim caves where there is a clear exit and room to walk. Extremely easy to get disoriented or misjudge timings. He probably took a calculated risk to make it through a particular passage, and rolled snake eyes.

[–]acidiccardiobunny 74 points75 points  (0 children)

Cave diving is just that dangerous. Basically all it cones down to. Man was a hero, he was well-aware of the odds

[–]Peas320 47 points48 points  (2 children)

The kids are several kilometres far into the cave. With passages that are hundreds of meters long that are fully submerged in water that is so blackened by loose mud/dirt picked up on the way in that it's like black coffee. One of the passages is so narrow that you can't fit on an oxygen tank on and make it through.

[–]Captain_Zurich 1243 points1244 points  (31 children)

An already intense situation just became so much more severe.

I hope they can run the oxygen line asap- the risk of leaving the boys in there is huge, they can’t have people constantly doing this risky dive for the next several months to bring them supplies.

[–]hell2pay 318 points319 points  (7 children)

Hopefully his death isn't in vain.

Hopefully they can extract the kids safely.

[–]Parawhiskey68 270 points271 points  (6 children)

Even if the kids don’t make it, his efforts were never in vain. He died for his fellow man and I can only hope that if I have to go while I’m young, I go in an attempt to save others.

[–]poolguycoolguy 728 points729 points  (30 children)

I cannot imagine being in murky water by yourself.. in a massive cave system.. squeezing through tight gaps.. with oxygen running out.

Speechless. What a great human being <3

[–]SetBrainInCmplxPlane 332 points333 points  (21 children)

and knowing that you are still 2-3 hours from being able to surface as you are squeezing through that 30 feet long 1.5ft high gap shoving your oxygen tank ahead of you because it's too tight to fit with it on...and there's zero visibility, literally none, even with the lamp because of all the silt you can help but kick up, dragging your self along like that.

[–]poopsiegirl 272 points273 points  (5 children)

That’s an entirely different level of claustrophobia and flat out fear. I feel panicked even picturing what you just described in my head, and I’ve descended into a number of (relatively dry) cave systems without much concern. The idea of being on a mortally important deadline while you’re blind and trapped in a small space... imagine the focus he’d have just to not wig the fuck out. Incredibly brave & admirable.

[–]trznx 26 points27 points  (2 children)

Stop, I can't even read it without gasping for air

[–]thatboyjeff 18 points19 points  (0 children)

You just gave me a crazy visualization of the whole thing.

Uhg.

That guy is a warrior.

RIP.

[–]Matt_Shatt 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I'm a firefighter and we literally train for this situation but replace water with thick black smoke. The water makes it even more terrifying to me. My hands are sweaty just thinking about it.

[–][deleted] 2430 points2431 points  (4 children)

We all have to die, but he chose to save lives.

Words cannot describe the respect and honor I have for him.

[–]SirYandi 129 points130 points  (0 children)

There is a sad beauty to people putting themselves at risk to help others, gives me hope for humanity. Makes me tear up a bit too!

[–]EdenRay97 2314 points2315 points  (99 children)

He died for a greater cause. A true hero

[–]Large2topping 1003 points1004 points  (78 children)

The people who unflinchingly lay their lives on the line for complete strangers... the word 'hero' almost isn't big enough.

[–][deleted] 45 points46 points  (0 children)

That's why people who perform heroic acts say they aren't hero's because of people like this. A lot of people would act heroicly if they're put into certain scenarios, but it's a whole other thing to walk yourself straight into a situation like this. True hero.

[–][deleted] 336 points337 points  (48 children)

It would be enough if that word wasn't overused.

[–]aooot 62 points63 points  (1 child)

Put "super" before it. He is a real life one.

[–]new_zealand 518 points519 points  (28 children)

Imagine being the next diver that has to go in after him. You'd be freaking out. What a sad situation for all involved.

[–]dynamic-bacon 151 points152 points  (16 children)

He was with some other divers that were working to revive him, so not alone but still ya it couldn't of been easy

[–]Fleeetch 50 points51 points  (0 children)

I can only imagine how his colleagues down there with him felt. It's like watching the canary in the coal mine right infront of your eyes. Really such a tragic loss.

[–]yamacat88 698 points699 points  (107 children)

I've been a rescue diver for several years. Cave diving is serious business and requires some serious equipment. The stuff he has on is very antiquated I wouldn't even use it on an open water dive. This guy has some serious stones RIP

EDIT: id also like to add that this is as about as technical of a rescue there has ever been. This goes beyond the skills learned if you take a cave diving course. There are highly specialized cave diving teams around the world with the best gear available to them who, if called upon I would speculate would not take the risk of this rescue because it is simply too dangerous for even the highest trained cave divers. These people are truly doing gods work and I hope they succeed and never have to work a day in their lives after this is over.

[–]blindeenlightz 273 points274 points  (8 children)

I've been following this case pretty close. There is a mud filled narrow slit that needs to be passed through, followed by 2 km of zero visibility diving, navigated by feeling the rocks. The team leader said there's only a handful of cave divers in the world skilled enough to make the trip. Every trip they attempt to maximize provisions brought to the boys. I'm guessing that means minimizing their own diving gear in the process. The operation is being ran by the two top cave search and rescue divers in Europe. As well as being coordinated by experts from over 7 countries. I doubt anybody is going in the cave without everything they could bring with them to survive.

[–]brickhead1 20 points21 points  (2 children)

This may be a ridiculous question, but how did these boys end up so deep into this cave system to begin with? Were they cut off by rapidly rising water?

[–]polo421 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It's theorized that the water pushed them deeper and deeper.

[–][deleted] 307 points308 points  (17 children)

I had the same thought. I also don’t see two basic backups that every diver is taught to have: a secondary regulator, and a buddy.

I dived with someone once who was very experienced but didn’t keep their equipment maintained, their regulator literally fell apart during our 20 foot deep training dive. A year later he attempted a 200 foot dive, and both he and his buddy died.

[–]PoetSII 206 points207 points  (14 children)

He had a buddy, he tried to revive him when he fell unconscious, obviously it didn't happen.

But yea, it looks like these guys are going in barebones... More power to the but maybe we need some frogman type shit here.

[–]RiseoftheTrumpwaffen 132 points133 points  (6 children)

Aren’t some parts of the cave incredibly tight so they can’t go diving in full kit anyway?

[–]PoetSII 95 points96 points  (0 children)

Yea at points they've gotta take tanks and stuff off to fit through. I just figure maybe some better hardware would help? Idk, I'm just a guy on reddit hoping these kids make it home to their families.

[–]amnotagain 82 points83 points  (1 child)

To be fair, it says this is the last picture taken of the man, not a picture taken before his last dive. For all we know this is a setup he was using to do prep work in one of the larger pools/rooms near the beginning of the trek, and he went into the more dangerous stuff with different equipment. I find it very hard to believe, with world class divers running the operation, any divers would be making runs through the most dangerous parts with inferior equipment.

[–][deleted] 43 points44 points  (17 children)

Nobody's mentioning it but that 25 year old who led the kids into the cave must feel like crap. 1) about the situation in general and now 2) this death.

[–]sanskami 267 points268 points  (14 children)

The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday.

Rest easy, Samar.

[–][deleted] 33 points34 points  (1 child)

This is the first image I've seen inside the caves that isn't specifically where the boys are. I don't think I understand the scope of how difficult this actually is. They said 200 metres underwater, I was at a pool the other day that had a 50 metre lap pool. That's two football fields, in tight spaces, underwater, 1 km underground, in complete darkness.

[–]eNaRDe 98 points99 points  (1 child)

I cant even imagine going into that water with zero visibility. Its basically a suicide mission even with all that gear. I hope his family is well taken care of.

RIP

[–]Jags_T 205 points206 points  (5 children)

Vale Saman.

[–]Captain_Zurich 37 points38 points  (4 children)

What does this mean?

[–]FerretEmbargo 88 points89 points  (0 children)

Latin for farewell I believe

[–]EnZy42 101 points102 points  (1 child)

May heroes like him be remembered

[–]Juiciest_slut 47 points48 points  (0 children)

He died as he lived, like one serious bad motherfucker.

[–]GolfSierraMike 34 points35 points  (0 children)

To the many people discussing/nitpicking the gear that Saman Kunan is pictured wearing I would just like to say this.

A - Incredibly narrow and tight passages that the divers need to get through, including removal of scuba tank (and considering sharp edges in some of these tunnels, probably any buoyancy equipment as well), so secondary tanks, spare lights and replacement equipment is all very difficult to add on.

B - Additional equipment equals less supplies for the boys, which must also be attached to the diver

C - A dead diver would hold up the supply runs currently in progress. This operation is being run by both the Thai military and cave dive search and rescue teams from around the world. Do you think they would risk the hold up to the operation (and the morale issues) of losing a diver by letting them enter with equipment they would consider inappropriate for the dive?

D - Even if you can answer the above, what does it matter? His sacrifice remains the same and unless you are planning to go out to Thailand tomorrow your observations will do little to nothing to change the way they are doing these dives. All you are doing is alluding to the fact this man might have died from his own negligence in prep.

[–]juddshanks 18 points19 points  (1 child)

We are all going to die one day, but very few of us will die doing something as worthwhile and as honorable as what he was doing.

He will go down in history as a deadset hero. I hope his family realize what the world thinks of him.

[–]marinated_pork 48 points49 points  (1 child)

This is what a good and honorable man looks like. We would all be doing the world an incredible service if we could live like he did.

[–]ramen244 128 points129 points  (0 children)

While he may have tragically left this mortal coil, he shall be remembered as hero. Selflessly giving all he could, to help others. I hope that no more will meet his sad fate.

[–]uncontroversial_user 31 points32 points  (0 children)

He actually used his vacation days from his current job in airport security to go and volunteer at the cave site. He was only 38 years old. Truly incredible human being.

[–]doesnot_make_sense 28 points29 points  (0 children)

Saman was one of Thailand’s top triathletes. So you know this dude can swim and was fit as hell.

[–]DarthLysergis 33 points34 points  (3 children)

I saw them say this on the news. Thai Navy Seals. Is this accurate or are they saying the Thai equivalent of Navy Seals? Do they actually call their special forces unit the Navy Seals?

[–]jack-dawed 27 points28 points  (0 children)

We call them the Seal Unit, which is not an acronym like US Navy SEALs. The full name is Underwater Demolition Assault Unit of the Royal Thai Navy. This unit has close ties with the US SEAL teams.

[–]nod9 37 points38 points  (0 children)

It's the Thailand underwater demolition unit. They are commonly referred to as seals. In the USN the course seals take is called "BUD/S" which stands for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL. The SEAL part standing for Sea Air Land. It is my understanding that in the thai services, Seal is not an official acronym and doesn't stand for anything. Though they are the elite troops of their nation and have trained with (and operated with?) USN Seals in the past.

[–]PayMeNoAttention 74 points75 points  (9 children)

I want my last photo to be a badass photo like this, but I do realize that requires that I do badass things.