The 12 young soccer players and their 25-year-old coach who were trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand for more than two weeks spoke about their experiences Wednesday after being released from the hospital.
The team and their coach were transported to a conference center in Northern Thailand where they were able to present their first-hand account of the events for the first time since being rescued last week.
[Opinion: The Thai soccer players captivated us, but slow-burning stories deserve attention too]
During the conference, several of the younger members on the team apologized to their parents for sneaking off to explore a cave while claiming they were going to play soccer, CBS reported.
The team also expressed sorrow when asked about the former Thai Navy SEAL who died during the rescue mission.
“We felt that we were the cause of his death, the cause of his family’s loss,” the coach, Ekkapol Chantawong, said during the press conference, adding that he and the boys “were very sad” when they learned of his death.
The boys also explained that they survived by drinking water from a trickle of fresh water coming down off a rock in the cave, and they had no food. They also said they tried to dig to find a way out and had to “economically” use their one flashlight as their only source of light.
No media questions were permitted, and doctors, social workers, and psychologists were present to participate in ensuring the boys’ well-being during the news conference.
The 12 boys, ranging in age from 11-16, and their coach entered the cave on June 23 after a soccer practice and were trapped by a downpour that flooded the cave. The boys were in the cave for nine days before being discovered by British divers.
After being trapped for over two weeks, a rescue mission ensued. On July 8, four boys were rescued from the cave. Four more were extracted the next day, and on the last day the remaining four boys and the coach were brought out of the cave.
The players on the Wild Boars soccer team spent a minimum of eight days in the hospital in northern Thailand, depending on which day they were rescued from the cave. They were treated from minor ailments — for instance, three had lung infections — before being released.
CBS reports that the doctors said the boys had gained an average of seven pounds since being rescued.
