A nerve-wracking exploration saga in Thailand has come to a merciful end. A collective salute of the comity of nations must now go to the 12 boys and their football coach who were rescued last Tuesday from a cave.
And no less deservingly to the rescue team which undertook a heroic mission as it strained every nerve to save the 13 who were trapped inside a cave. Laughter and tears go together. That truism must be profoundly relevant in Thailand today.
For, in the midst of the celebration by the 13 families, there is an unmistakable sense of grief as Saman Gunan, a former Thai navy diver, lost his life in the rescue effort. Overall though, heartfelt is the jubilation around the world.
The 18 days were marked by dimming hopes, a sudden discovery, and the race against time to save the lives of the boys and their coach. In myth and folklore, caves are both enticing and forbidding, often invoked as the gateway into another world; children straying into jeopardy is another recurrent theme.
Yet what made this story so powerful and absorbing was seeing humanity at its best: this is a tale of innocence protected; of perseverance against the odds and heroism in the face of danger; above all, of triumph over despair. The rescue is a true inspiration: it has underlined what can be done when humans overcome their fears, pull together and put others first. In short, when they care.
Twelve children were swallowed by the darkness last month. They have re-emerged into the light, and this was palpably evident from the visuals of the rescued that have gone viral for close to a week. The boys themselves, with their coach’s encouragement, have shown extraordinary fortitude.
In a divided world ~ to use an understatement ~ the rescue has been a model of international collaboration. US military personnel, British rescue experts and specialists from China, Australia and Japan worked alongside the Thai authorities and the people.
For the world in the wider perspective, there is a parable to be drawn from the exemplary coordination in a country that has, for the past few years, been plagued by political instability, when not military intervention and the rumbling of tanks. And the forbidding task has been accomplished without showboating.
In an era of greed, many involved are unpaid volunteers. In an age of narcissism, they have shunned the spotlight. Chiang Rai bears witness to humanitarian intervention in the profoundest sense of the term, of late increasingly fashionable in the geostrategic construct.
The rescue has been as awesome as the accident. Amidst division, rancour and killings in different parts of the world, the successful mission to save the boys’ football team offers inspiration. There may be hope yet in a strife-torn world.