Today was a remarkable and unique day. The suspense and the emotion filled the air. It surrounded us. We could even taste it.
A daring and incredibly dangerous rescue mission was been given the green light to go ahead. Today was the day that Royal Thai Navy Seal divers will begin the attempted (and ultimately succeeded) to rescue the 12 schoolboys and their 25-year-old football coach who’ve been trapped in the Tham Luang cave complex, Chiang Rai, for two weeks.
Being based in Bangkok, Thailand, I have a close association with Thai people from all walks of life. This event truly gripped the nation and the world.
Humans are natural carers
This cave rescue in Thailand has given me a fresh perspective on the topic of empathy. It’s made me ask the question: do children really need to be taught how to care for one another?
The outpouring of help for these trapped boys and their coach was truly inspirational. I won’t even begin to attempt to write a list of all of those who have helped because that list would be so huge it would take months, maybe years, to research and collate. But it has been remarkable. People from all over the world have literally sacrificed their time, money, health and energy to do everything possible to help these boys.
One man even sacrificed his life: Petty Officer Saman Gunan, who fell unconscious and died shortly after delivering oxygen tanks in the cave complex.
When times are at their worst, humans will do everything they can to help. Mr Saman Gunan is a true hero who selflessly did the best he could to help people who were in desperate need.
Surely this is our highest and most prized quality as humans – selflessness. Few people, however, are both incredibly brave and selfless, as Mr Gunan was.
He will forever be remembered and missed.
Article continues on the next page…
You need to Login or Register to bookmark/favorite this content.
Be the first to comment