Rescued

Reading a newspaper these days (or its digital equivalents) is a study in horrors piled on horrors.  Very few stories leave you feeling happy, or even just relieved.

Learning that twelve young Thai soccer players, lost in a flooded cave, had been found alive was one bright star in the black sky.  Blue states and red states, liberals and conservatives, everyone rejoiced that the boys, ages 11 to 16, had not only been found -- but found alive, without injuries.  Weak and hungry but still fully conscious and talking coherently.  "How long have we been here," seems to have been one of their first questions.

Chiang Rai province is immediately to the north of Chiang Mai province, where my nephew and his daughter live at present.  I've spent a couple of days in Chiang Rai province, but was unaware that the province contained a large complex of caves to be explored.  I'm not tempted to go seek them out now.

The cave where the boys were found -- largely flooded by monsoon rains -- offered plenty of water, water apparently safe to drink.  And, as one doctor remarked, a healthy human body is able to adapt for surprisingly long periods (ten days, in this case) without food.

Still to be determined is how the boys will be removed from the cave.  Rescuers were trained Scuba divers.  None of the boys can swim, apparently, let alone dive.  And so they may be stuck in the cave for a considerable period, dependent on food and other supplies brought in from the outside by divers.

Claustrophobia isn't really a problem for me.  But it is for many.  The fact that the boys voluntarily entered the cave may suggest a certain self-selection for tolerance to enclosed spaces.  But everyone has his limits.

I remember, at the age of about nine, crawling behind our living room sofa, squeezing myself between the sofa and the wall.  I found myself in a place where I could move neither forward or backward.  I recall the feeling of panic, and that panicky recollection gives me some empathy for those who do suffer from claustrophobia.  A totally dark cave, sitting on a rock island for ten days surrounded by water, might have pushed one too many buttons for me to tolerate.

But in the photos brought back from the cave, none of the boys visible seems emotionally upset or panicky.  Just tired and hungry.  I would think that after ten days, they would be very cold sitting on wet rocks in shorts and t-shirts, but then I remember that Thailand is not a chilly country.  And they are young.  They may be uncomfortable now, but I suspect they will recall this experience as one of the great adventures of their lives.  Something they can bore their children and grandchildren with, over and over, in decades to come.

Their parents, who have maintained a vigil for ten days at the mouth of the cave, beyond the point when hope still seemed reasonable, may take longer to recover. 

My thanks and gratitude to the rescuers -- of many nations -- who helped find the kids, and my hopes that they are returned quickly and in good condition to their families.