By Stephen Wright and Kaweewit Kaewjinda Published 2:38 pm PDT, Wednesday, July 11, 2018 Photo: Associated Press Image 1of/1 Caption Close Image 1 of 1 Three of the 12 boys are seen in their hospital beds after being rescued along with their soccer coach from a flooded cave. Three of the 12 boys are seen in their hospital beds after being rescued along with their soccer coach from a flooded cave. Photo: Associated Press With V-for-Victory sign, rescued Thai boys celebrate freedom 1 / 1 Back to Gallery MAE SAI, Thailand— As ecstatic relatives watched and waved from behind a glass barrier, the 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from deep within a flooded cave in Thailand made the V-for-Victory sign Wednesday from their beds in a hospital isolation ward where they are recovering from the 18-day ordeal. An American involved in the operation described the perilous zero-visibility dives that brought the boys out safely as a “once in a lifetime rescue.” Derek Anderson, a 32-year-old rescue specialist with the U.S. Air Force based in Okinawa, Japan, said that at times during the risky rescue, the boys had to be put into harnesses and high-lined across the rocky caverns. At other times, they endured dives lasting up to half an hour in the pitch-black waters. “The world just needs to know that what was accomplished was a once-in-a-lifetime rescue,” Anderson said Wednesday. “We were extremely fortunate that the outcome was the way it was. It’s important to realize how complex and how… [Read full story]
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