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Foreign Divers, including Ivan Karadzic (2nd from left ) and Erik Brown (3rd from right), were part of the extensive rescue operations
The rescuers who worked to save the group trapped in a Thai cave were a mix of international divers working with Thai navy sailors.
The 12 boys and their football coach were first found by British divers, but the efforts to get them out were a truly global operation.
Several divers from the Thai Navy participated in the rescue. A former diver, Saman Gunan, died in the cave last Friday
. Little information was published about the people involved and how, largely because most participants were reluctant to speak
. Divers – Thai and foreign – were part of the effort. Here are some of them:
John Volanthen and Richard Stanton
John Volanthen's voice was the first to be heard by the boys and their coach after nine days underground.
He was called by the Thai authorities with his British compatriot, Mr. Stanton, along with another British speleologist, Robert Harper.
The trio arrived in Thailand three days after the disappearance of the football team
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p06cqj4l.jpg)
By the time the divers discovered the missing boys
M. Volanthen, an IT consultant, and Mr. Stanton, a former firefighter, are part of the Southern Cavern and Central Wales Rescue Team. 19659007] They participated in several rescue operations in underground diving, particularly in Norway, France and Mexico.
- Cave divers who returned for their friends
Richard Harris
Dr. Harris, from Adelaide to Australia, has decades of diving experience. He was the one who examined the boys in the cave and gave the green light for the rescue operation to go forward.
Had the boys been too weak, a diving rescue attempt would have been too dangerous.
According to media reports, Dr. Harris has participated in cave diving explorations in Australia, China, the Christmas Islands and New Zealand. Anesthetist training, he also specializes in medicine operations and expedition recovery.
In 2011, he recovers the body of his friend, the experienced diver Agnes Milowka, who lacks air during an extremely difficult expedition to South Australia.
It is thought that his Thai rescue aid was specifically requested by British divers
- The doctor who stayed with the boys
Thai Navy Seals
Copyright of the image [19659003] Facebook / Thai Navy Seals
The last to leave the Tham Luang caves were three divers and a nurse – all seals from the Thai Navy
Many Thai special forces were involved in relief operations. The most notable are a doctor – well known as Pak Loharnshoon – and three other divers who volunteered to stay with the boys after being found underground a week ago.
Minor injuries of a boy in a video shared by the Thai Navy's Facebook page last week
Four members of the Thai Navy personnel were the last to leave the cave Tuesday night.
The Navy Seals unit was headed by Rear Admiral Arpakorn Yuukongkaew.
When the divers were still trying to find the boys, it was he who kept the reporters informed of the slow progress.
Adm Arphakorn was responsible for the Navy Seals during their risky operation
Saman Gunan
Saman Gunan, 38, was a retired Thai Navy diver who volunteered for rescue operations.
He lost consciousness when he left the Tham Luang cave complex, where he was delivering air tanks on July 6th.
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p06d7ktj.jpg)
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His diving partner tried to revive him but could not, and his body was out of the cave.
His widow told the BBC: He loved helping others, doing charity work and getting things done.
Rear Admiral Arphakorn said that he would not let "life in vain" from PO Gunan.
"We will not let our friend's sacrifice get lost."
Ben Reymenants
The Belgian Ben Reymenants runs a dive shop in Phuket. It is thought that he is part of the group that found the boys for the first time on Monday.
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Ben Reymenants with Governor Narongsak Osotthanakorn and his Dive Companion Maksym Polejaka
Claus Rasmussen
Claus Rasmussen is a Danish national who has been living in Thailand for years, working for several different dive schools.
He is currently an instructor in the company of Ben Reymenants, Blue Label Diving.
He plunged through Asia and also worked in several other countries of Southeast Asia
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A photo of Mr Paasi posted on Facebook, showing Claus Rasmussen in the cave
Mikko Paasi
The Finn Mikko Paasi is the founder of a diving center on the small Thai island of Koh Tao, where he specializes in technical diving.
On July 2, the day the boys and their trainer were found, Mikko's wife said on Facebook that she had bought her husband's flight to Chiang Rai to join the relief efforts on It was their eighth wedding anniversary.
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Mikko Paasi is one of the many divers who have worked to put boys in safety
Ivan Karadzic
Ivan Karadzic, a danish, settles in Koh Tao a few years after Mr. Paasi, and they now run the dive center together.
He told the BBC his fear of seeing the first boy and a diver approaching it from afar – not knowing if it was a "wounded or a child" – and then his relief to realize that the boy was safe
![](https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/images/ic/720x405/p06dbl2r.jpg)
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When Mr. Gunan dies in the race for the last aid, Mr. Karadzic writes on his Facebook wall: "Rest in peace, you are a hero and we will never forget your sacrifice."
Erik Brown [19659012] Canadian Erik Brown is a Technical Diving Instructor in Vancouver
He started diving more than a decade ago and co-founded Team Blue Immersion, a technical diving school in Egypt.
Tuesday night, he writes on Facebook that he has done seven dive missions in nine days. </ P> <p> 63 hours in the int Tham Luang Caves.
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In an image posted on Facebook, Erik Brown ( l), Mikko Paasi (c) and Claus Rasmussen (r) are seen celebrating the completion of the rescue dives
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