Thai cave hero visits Scotch
Students and staff inspired by a story of courage and a leap of faith
In July 2018, retired vet Dr Craig Challen and anaesthetist Dr Richard Harris made worldwide headlines when they joined an international team to rescue a group of boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Chiang Rai, Thailand. Following the rescue, Craig and Richard were awarded joint recipients of the 2019 Australian of the Year and both were awarded the Star of Courage for unwavering and selfless bravery following the successful rescue of the trapped soccer team.
Today, an incredibly humble Craig spoke to staff and students about how his life changed immensely when he received the call to take part in the rescue mission and the lessons it taught him.
The cave diving expert has significant experience in cave diving all over the world. He has dived some of Australia's deepest wrecks, set records and participated in complex diving recoveries. But nothing could prepare him for what challenges he faced last July. Craig spoke of how rare cave diving rescues are, and that this one was substantial in scale and the number of people involved, "We were also dealing with non-English speaking children, who were not familiar with the environment and had been stuck in there for 9 days without food."
Unfortunately, the Thai emergency services lacked the cave diving experience necessary to attempt a rescue, so it was a pure leap of faith that the mission went ahead with an international contingent of divers, including Craig and his diving partner Richard. There were no guarantees that everyone would make it out alive, but there was no alternative. "It weighed heavily on our minds that we would lose some lives" Craig confessed to a captivated audience this morning.
The dive team also had no time to get to know each other and build a rapport before they entered the cave. But, as Craig highlighted, in times of crisis, "You just have to work together." And work together they did, and successfully completed one of the most dangerous rescue missions ever seen.
Craig concluded his inspiring story with some words of wisdom: "People become known for one thing in their lives. I feel like I've become a celebrity for 4 days of work I did last year in Thailand. But it was actually everything I had done and experiences I'd had before this event that made it possible. My advice to you is to look beyond the people you look up to, and look for their story, the bigger picture. You may aspire to do one great thing in your lives, and I hope that you do, but it is what you do every day of your life, your skills and strength of character, which will lead to that happening and shape who you are forever."
