US rescuer details high-risk Thai cave mission

The Thai boys saved from a flooded cave endured dives in zero visibility lasting up to half an hour and in places were put in a harness and high-lined across rocky caverns, said a leader of the US contingent that was part of the operation, calling it a "once in a lifetime rescue."
Derek Anderson, a 32-year-old rescue specialist with the US Air Force based in Okinawa, Japan, said the dozen boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, and their coach, who were trapped for more than two weeks, were "incredibly resilient."
"In this type of cave diving, you have to lay line, rope, that's your lifeline. You have to ensure when you go in you have a way out," Anderson said. "They were making progress, but it was very little progress and they were exhausting themselves spending maybe five or six hours and covering 40 or 50 meters."

"The world just needs to know that what was accomplished was a once in a lifetime rescue that I think has never been done before," Anderson said. "We were extremely fortunate that the outcome was the way it was. It's important to realize how complex and how many pieces of this puzzle had to come together."