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Josh Bratchley, a British professional diver who helped save 12 boys and their football coach from a Thai cave in July, was saved himself from a Tennessee cave on Wednesday.
When Edd Sorenson, a professional diver from Florida for rescue, arrived in an air pocket at Mill Pond Cave, Jackson County, Tennessee, he found Mr. Bratchley sitting, covered with mud, from head to toe. He looked like "a snowman" if the snowmen were made of mud, said Mr. Sorenson.
"He was there, as calm as possible," said Sorenson. "He just said," Thank you, thank you. Who are you? "
At 7 pm, more than a day after Mr. Bratchley entered the cave with four other divers, Mr. Sorenson appeared with Mr. Bratchley, who was in a good mood and refused medical treatment. The other four divers had tried unsuccessfully to rescue Mr. Bratchley, separated from a line used to guide divers in low visibility areas. There was no food or water, but enough oxygen to survive in a casual air pocket.
"He was awake, alert and focused," said Derek Woolbright, spokesperson for the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency, at a news conference. "His only request when he came to the surface was that he wanted pizza."
Just like the rescue in Thailand, which caught the attention of the international community when everyone hoped that the boys would have returned safe and sound despite seemingly long odds, the rescuers were worried that Wednesday's operation would not end well. Other divers thought that Mr. Bratchley may not have been able to get out of the water at 55 degrees, which would most likely have resulted in lethal hypothermia. Mr. Sorenson said that he could have ended up earlier in the air pocket, but he had first searched for bodies in the recesses.
The cave is about 400 feet long with little visibility, sharp turns and tight passages that forced the divers to move in single file. It is not known yet how Mr. Bratchley separated from the line, but Mr. Sorenson found it broken.
Mr. Bratchley's group came out of the cave for the first time at 3 pm Tuesday, and realized that they were not all out. After several unsuccessful rescue attempts, the other divers called 911 around 1am Wednesday, Woolbright said.
At approximately 2:30 am, Mr. Sorenson's phone rang in Marianna, Florida. He quickly packed his diving gear and booked a flight; the Tennessee Road Patrol greeted him at the airport with a helicopter to take him to the cave.
Although Mr. Sorenson brought enough air to get the two men out of the cave, Mr. Bratchley had kept enough for himself, Sorenson said. Mr. Bratchley had tried three unsuccessful attempts to find a way out and had decided to preserve any airspace for a possible rescue, Mr. Sorenson said.
The operation lasted about an hour, much faster than expected, Mr. Sorenson said. Those in need of help are often hysterical or panicky, but Mr. Bratchley's mental state was "flawless", allowing for a smoother rescue, Sorenson said.
Mr Bratchley, who scuba dive, is a meteorologist at the Met Office, Britain's national meteorological service. he said after the rescue in Thailand that he was "directly involved in the operation as a diver specializing in cave rescue, working in the diving team to bring out the children one by one . "
Sorenson, a regional coordinator of the international underwater cave rescue and recovery team, rescued five other people trapped in caves, he said. In March, he told Jackson County, Floridan, that he had never asked for payment or reimbursement of fees.
Rescues are rare; he is called much more often to recover the bodies, he said.
"Putting people in body bags all the time is not fun," he said. "And when you send one home, it's an exceptional feeling."
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