In the summer of 2018, a boys’ soccer team in Thailand held a practice in a field near the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system. After the practice, their 25-year-old assistant coach led twelve members of the Wild Boars team into the cave to explore. The cave was full of tunnels and the boys, ages 11 to 16, were excited to have an adventure.

While the team was in the cave, it started to rain. The rain came down heavier and heavier. The Wild Boars were so deep into the cave that they didn’t know it was raining outside. Until the cave began to fill with water.

Quickly the cave was flooded. The water blocked their way out. The boys and their coach were trapped.

The water rose and the current grew strong. No one was able to contact the team for nearly two weeks. Rescuers from all over the world tried to reach the Wild Boars. They found shoes, bags, handprints and footprints. But they couldn’t find the missing boys.

Many people took part in the rescue efforts including divers, ground water experts, and local volunteers. Nearby farmers sacrificed their crops so that water could be diverted from the cave to increase the team’s chance of survival. The world watched on television and hoped for the best.

Finally, two British divers found the Wild Boars. They were huddled on a high, rocky platform about a mile and a half from the cave entrance. They were alive.

The rescuers made a plan for how to get the team out of the cave. They had to organize resources and move quickly, because the boys were weak and scared and there was a threat of more rain coming soon. The rescue involved more than 10,000 people, ten helicopters, and seven ambulances. It was a success.

All of the Wild Boars survived the ordeal. The assistant coach, who had trained to be a Buddhist monk for 10 years, taught the boys to meditate. The practice kept them calm. The team never gave up and neither did the world. In the end, hope won.