One of the British divers who helped save the Thai cave schoolboys was rescued from a cave himself after he was trapped for 28 hours. Josh Bratchley, who is based on Anglesey, was exploring a flooded cave in Jackson County, in Tennessee, with a group of divers from the UK, when he failed to return to the surface on Tuesday.
His fellow divers feared for his safety after spending hours searching for him with no success. They alerted authorities in the early hours of Wednesday morning and expert divers from different US states were flown in to help. Mr Bratchley was found waiting calmly in an air pocket. Mr Bratchley was part of a team of British cave diving experts who helped save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand last year. A meteorologist by trade, he was later honoured at a reception held by the Prime Minister at Downing Street and appointed MBE in the 2019 New Year's Honours list. He was awake, alert and oriented. His only request when he got to the surface was that he wanted some pizza.
His fellow divers feared for his safety after spending hours searching for him with no success. They alerted authorities in the early hours of Wednesday morning and expert divers from different US states were flown in to help. Mr Bratchley was found waiting calmly in an air pocket. Mr Bratchley was part of a team of British cave diving experts who helped save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand last year. A meteorologist by trade, he was later honoured at a reception held by the Prime Minister at Downing Street and appointed MBE in the 2019 New Year's Honours list. He was awake, alert and oriented. His only request when he got to the surface was that he wanted some pizza.
– DEREK WOOLBRIGHT, RESCUE OFFICIAL
Rescuers said the low cave was dangerous and praised Mr Bratchley for his composure:
I could've got to him sooner, but I was looking at every nook and cranny looking for a body. There were broken lines and it was a very silty, dangerous low cave. We came up to the air pocket and shockingly there he was, calm as could be. He just said 'thank you, thank you. Who are you?
– EDD SORENSON, RESCUE DIVER