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There is a saying in the world of information: "If it bleeds, it leads."
Essentially, the more disastrous and sensational a report is, the more likely it is to attract # 39; s attention. news, or log on to a news site, only to see story after story of horrific fires, floods, murders and worse? The only time you see hot, fuzzy "human interest" stories, those about cats saved from trees or kids selling lemonade for charity – is buried at the end of the newsletter, in the last moments after the weather report and sports highlights. Basically, you have to wade through the terrible things to get to the wellness stories.
Last week, the rescue of 12 young Thai football players and their coach is all the more poignant.For those who focused on our current trade war or Trump's performance at the conference of NATO, here's the story: 12 teenagers, members of the Wild The Boar Football Team, and their badistant The coach t was exploring the cave of Tham Luang Nang in Thailand. The boys were preparing a picnic inside the cave for the birthday of a member of the team. Shortly after entering, heavy rains flooded the cave, forcing the group to move deeper into the caves.
The head coach of the team found some boy's belongings outside the cave and contacted the authorities. The continuing rain has blocked efforts to locate the group. It took 10 days to use Thai Navy SEALS, sniffer dogs, robots and drones to locate the group. But with the cave still very flooded, there was no easy way to remove the boys safely.
Watching all this drama unfold myself reminded me of baby Jessica's rescue. In 1987, 18-month-old Jessica McClure fell into a well in her aunt's back yard in Texas. For 56 hours, the nation held its collective breath as rescuers worked to remove the child from its position 22 feet underground in an 18-inch pipe. Finally, Baby Jessica emerged from the pipe, dirty but intact. She is now a 32-year-old woman, married and a mother of two.
More recently, in August 2010, 33 miners were trapped at the San Jose gold-copper mine in northern Chile. Thanks to the combined efforts of the Chilean government, three separate drilling rigs, many private companies and even NASA, the 33 miners have been shaken safely, one by one, while more than a billion people were watching. While the drama of the Thai football team unfolded, I thought of my own boys. While the teens of Wild Boars huddled to warm up, wrapped in Mylar blankets and trying to keep up the spirits, I was driving my 17 year old son to college visits. I could not imagine the state of mind of the mothers of these children. You send your child a day for a picnic with his coaches and teammates only to learn that he's gone, and then trapped two miles deep in a cave with apparently no hope of rescue until the end of the rainy season. On July 2nd, a team of divers and health professionals was sent to the cave to bring food and other supplies to the boys. As oxygen levels dropped in the cavern, an air supply line was installed to prevent hypoxia. Pumps have been installed to try to remove as much water as possible. Rescue professionals from more than 15 countries, as well as inventor Elon Musk himself, have all worked tirelessly to try to get the boys out safely. Yet, with the threat of more than imminent rain, and the death of a former SEAL Thai diver who died delivering supplies to the cave, the chances of salvage seemed bleak.
And then, on July 8, a miracle. Four of the boys were safely released. The next day, four more were removed. And on July 10, the last members of the team and their coach were removed from the cave. In the hours following the rescue of the last group, the installed pumps failed, allowing the water to return to the cave.
The history of the Thai football team has dominated the headlines for weeks. It started as a story "if-it-leads-that-bleeds". Children trapped by flood waters, slim chances of rescue, how could this lead to anything other than tragedy? And yet, despite all the obstacles, the story has ended happily. Amid a cycle of horrendous news stories involving politics, immigration, threats of nuclear annihilation and death, the rescue of the Thai football team has pierced as a brilliant light of unity, unity and hope. A testimony of what can be accomplished when people decide to work together instead of tearing each other apart. What world would it be like there were more stories of this kind
One can only hope for it.
Laura Anderson is a long-time mother, wife, writer and Mariner columnist who lives in Hanover with her family.
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