One of the 12 boys who were rescued from a Thai cave in 2018 has passed away in the UK. His name was Duangpetch Promthep.
The 17-year-old from Leicestershire was discovered unconscious in his hostel on Sunday. He was rushed to the hospital, where he passed away on Tuesday 15TH February, according to reports to the BBC.
Since the end of last year, he has been enrolled in a football academy in the UK.
He served as captain of the Thai boys’ football team that spent more than two weeks imprisoned within a cave while exploring in the region of Chiang Rai.
One of the most striking photos from the rescue was of his beaming face, which was illuminated by the diver’s torch when the lads were located in the cave.
What happened to the Thai cave rescue team after that?
The teenager’s cause of death is unknown, however according to Leicestershire Police, there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding it. According to reports in Thailand, he had a brain injury.
On Sunday in the late afternoon, Promthep was taken by ambulance to Kettering General Hospital, according to an East Midlands Ambulance Service representative. The incident was also visited by an air ambulance.
Duangpetch Promthep, 17, who was captain of the football team that was stranded in floodwaters in the northern Thailand cave, died at a hospital in England. The cause of death has not been revealed.
— PhilSTAR L!fe (@philstarlife) February 16, 2023
READ: https://t.co/8EIDKWsRKM pic.twitter.com/RnDCYuI75j
The announcement that Promthep, whom they refer to as Dom, had won a scholarship to attend the Brooke House College Football Academy in Market Harborough made his teammates happy in August of last year.
He wrote, “Today my wish has come true.
His mother informed the team’s favorite temple, Wat Doi Wao in his homeland of Chiang Rai, about his passing.
The post included images of the football team with monks and read, “May Dom’s soul rest in peace.”
Soon, texts from his squad mates flooded in.
One of the boys who was rescued alongside Promthep in 2018 commented, “You told me to wait and see you play for the national team, I always think that you would do it.” Prachak Sutham.
“I even jokingly warned you when we last spoke before you left for England that I would have to beg for your autograph when you return.
“Good night, my beloved friend. 13 of us will always be present.
Titan Chanin Viboonrungruang, one of the other boys, wrote: “If the next world is real, I want us to play football together again, my brother Dom. You told me that we will be realizing our football dream.”
Ian Smith, the principal of Brooke House College, expressed that everyone there was “truly grieved and shocked” by the passing.
He said, “We join in sadness with all of Dom’s family, friends, former teammates, and those connected in all aspects of his life, as well as everyone affected in any way in Thailand and throughout the college’s global family.
Mark Gooding, the British ambassador to Thailand, expressed “his sympathies to all his friends and family” in a tweet.
Before moving to the UK, Promthep attended the Vachiralai Bee School in Chiang Mai. He was an avid football lover and had played on a youth team in Chiang Mai.
Football-related posts abound on his Instagram page, frequently with the hashtag #footballismylife.
His “dream team’s football gear,” which includes a jersey, shorts, socks, and shoes with blue and pink stripes, is sketched out in one of his last posts from January.
What took place in 2018?
On June 23, 2018, the Wild Boars (Moo Pa in Thai) football squad, of which Promthep served as captain, rode bicycles in a sprint to the Tham Luang cave. One of the group’s favorite hangouts was there.
However, an unexpected storm forced the cave system’s constrained corridors to flood, trapping the youngsters and their coach inside.
Before they were discovered by divers, they went nine days without food and light as 10,000 people engaged in a desperate search.
While he was stranded in the cave, Promthep turned 13 years old. At the time, his colleagues ranged in age from 11 to 16, and their coach, Ekkaphon Kanthawong, was 25.
The boys’ coach taught them meditation techniques to help them stay calm and breathe as little as possible as they dug holes using rocks to escape.
While they were preparing for the rescue, divers sent them food and letters from their families. Eventually, after being ketamine-sedated, they were taken out.
The incredible account of the rescue made headlines all across the world, and many books and films were eventually written to recount it, including a six-episode miniseries that Netflix aired last year.
