The 12 Thai boys have given their first interview since been rescued from the flooded cave.
The boys and their football coach appeared in public for the first time today at a press conference in Chiang Rai.
The children entered the cave complex on June 23 and spent about two weeks there before they were successfully rescued by a team of experienced divers.
The boys said that they didn’t have anything to eat in the cave before the divers found them, but that they did drink clean water from the stalactites.
News.com.au reports the youngest boy, Titan, said that he tried not to think about food during this time. “I had no strength. I tried not to think about food so I didn’t get more hungry,” he said.
While trapped in the cave, the boys took turns digging at the walls and the ground searching for a means of escape and to get further away from the rising water.
The team’s coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, said:
“We took turns digging at the cave walls. We didn’t want to wait around until authorities found us.”
The boys were found alive in the cave after being trapped alone for nine days.
Another member of the team, Adul Sam-on, said that when they realised they had been found by the divers, it was “magical.”
Video by @CNN’s @patrick_bkk of the #WildBoar boys emerging from hospital in Chiang Rai #ThamLuang pic.twitter.com/ivS0AXeKQu
— Rebecca Wright (@bexwright1) July 18, 2018
“I had to think a lot before I could answer their questions,” he said. “It was in the evening when we were scratching rocks on the top of the boulder and we heard voices.”
The boys also confirmed that contrary to early media reports, all of the team members were able to swim.
The 12 boys and their coach were released from hospital today and will now be permitted to return home.
They are all said to be in good physical and mental health.
