British diver relives gripping Thai cave rescue

One of the team who found the 12 young footballers tells of restaging the mission for a film

In October 2020, Rick Stanton readied his wetsuit, dive harness, cylinders and regulators. He was preparing to plunge into the underwater filming stage at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire: a six-metre deep tank, surrounded by dark walls prepared with an artificial cave passage.

Stanton, along with six other British divers, was recreating the extraordinary Tham Luang cave rescue mission in which he took part, an operation that gripped the world's attention in 2018, and which saved 12 teenage footballers and their assistant coach who had become trapped in the north Thailand cave.