In Thai Cave Rescue, This Ancient Practice Likely Saved the Trapped Boys’ Lives
The soccer players are already out of the cave. But things could have gone very differently.
According to the divers who’ve met with them, the boys appear to be in as good health as could be expected, in remarkably good spirits, and surprisingly calm, considering that they’ve spent more than two weeks trapped behind flood waters deep inside a cave complex with no light and very limited food.
There’s an unexpected reason for their upbeat and calm demeanor: They have apparently spent much of their time while trapped underwater meditating under the direction of Ekapol Chanthawong, the 25-year-old assistant coach of their team, named the Wild Boars. In fact, they were sitting in meditation when a British dive team first found them after nine days of search.
Chanthawong will face questions about why he led the boys into the cave in the first place, since there were prominent warnings posted that it was dangerous to enter after the rainy season begins in April. This soccer team is not the first group of people to have been trapped by flooding inside the cave complex.
