The Thai boys who were evacuated from the flooded cave in a dramatic rescue mission that gripped the world have spoken for the first time. / Chiang Rai Hospital
The 12 boys and coach that were trapped in a Thailand cave for more than two weeks were found "by their smell", a British diver who was part of the mission has revealed.
John Volanthen was one of the foreign expert divers called in to help rescue the Wild Boars football team, who went missing after they went for a casual walk into the cave.
The boys became stuck after monsoon flooding blocked them inside.
The Thai boys inside the cave in Mae Sai, northern Thailand. Photo / AP
Volanthen told BBC about the moment he and his fellow divers first found the children alive, by using their sense of smell.
He said: "It's been mentioned by some members of the press it was luck, I would say that's absolutely not the case.
"Wherever there is air space, we surface and we shout and also we smell.
"And in this case, we smelt the children before we actually saw them or heard them,'' he said.
"The video you see is again a part of the story what you can't see on the opposite bank is we'd already removed a lot of our equipment we were preparing to go and find them, we could see where they were and we were very pleased trying to establish how many of them were alright and as it turned out all of them were."
Richard Stanton, left, and John Volanthen arrive in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, in northern Thailand. Photo / AP
When speaking about the major challenges the divers were facing, Volanthen said: "The visibility in the water is very low, varying down to a few inches. There was also a lot of debris in the cave from previous attempts.
"The cold was also an issue. Some of the children were quite small, so we were quite concerned about how they would hold up on the journey out."
Another British diver, Rick Stanton, who was diving alongside Volanthen denied he was hero.
"Are we heroes? No.
"We were just using a very unique skill set, which we normally use for our own interests and sometimes we are able to use that and give something back to the community."
Rescuers hold an evacuated boy inside the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, Thailand. Photo / AP
Describing their relief after finding the boys alive he said: "We were counting them until we got to 13 ... unbelievable. We gave them a bit of extra light, they still had light, they looked in good health. Then when we departed, all we could think about was how we would get them out."
Although a successful mission, former Navy Seal diver Saman Kunan drowned ahead of the rescue.
Doctors decided to tell the young boys about the tragic death, the Daily Mail reports.
The youngsters bowed their heads in respect to former Petty Officer Kunan and posed with a picture of him at their hospital ward, where they are being treated for malnutrition, pneumonia, ear infections and exhaustion.
Ekkapol Chantawong, the 25-year-old football coach who led the ill-fated outing into the cave, wiped away tears with a clenched fist.
The rescued soccer team members pose with a sketch of the Thai Navy SEAL diver who died while trying to rescue them. Photo / AP
"All of the boys who were evacuated from the cave have been informed of the death of one of the rescuers," Dr Jesada Chockbamrungsuk, who is in charge of their treatment, announced.
"All of the boys cried and were in tears when they found out.
"The survivors expressed their thanks to the Thai Navy Seal by bowing to his picture.
"The boys all promised to be a good person and lead a good life to honour him."
He added: "We told them about the death of Navy Seal Kunan as part of the process of preparing the boys to go back home and to lead normal lives."
