The World Holds Its Breath for the Thai Soccer Team

Postscript (July 10): All twelve boys and their coach have been safely evacuated. We applaud the exceptional efforts of the Thai/international rescue divers and other support personnel.

Like the families of the twelve young boys and the teacher of the Thai soccer team marooned deep within a long treacherous undulating cave in the mountainous north of Thailand, I hope that they will all soon be safely evacuated from their perilous perch four kilometers from the cave’s entrance.

Like the families of those boys and their 25-year-old teacher, I try to think positive thoughts:

— That the monsoon rains will wait several more weeks although they are already later than usual;

— That even if the rains come they will be light and will not fill up the crooks and crannies and murderous turns within the snakelike cave so as to hamper an escape;

— That the rescue workers will be able to successfully teach the twelve imperiled students and their teacher to scuba dive in the cold murky depths of the twisting lakes that fill up the narrowest portions of the cave and lie between them and the entrance;

— That all the boys and their teacher will have regained adequate strength during this ordeal to help rescue themselves by scuba diving with assistance of experienced divers to whom they will be tethered and then walking through connecting unflooded but slippery and muddy portions of the cave;

— That news of the death of a Thai SEAL who was laying out extra oxygen tanks along the only realistic escape route will not reach the captives in the cave before they begin their swim to freedom;

— That the boys and their teacher can be emotionally buoyed to keep from panicking during any effort to swim out if they should become spooked or if there is any kind of equipment failure;

— That other possible escape methods of pumping out more water or drilling escape route holes from above must be forgotten or disregarded as no longer feasible;

— That a major tragedy is not beginning to ensue in spite of all the rescue efforts under way.

The world is holding its breath and imagining what might already be occurring. The world is sending rescuers and other help, offering advice, and nervously waiting. The world is meditating and praying and hoping that the miracle of the thirteen will not end in tragedy.