A difficult tragedy: 5 years after he was trapped in a cave in Thailand together with his “Wild Boars” football team mates and was rescued in an extensive operation, the team’s captain Dongpech Phromtep passed away today (Wednesday) when he was only 17 years old. The local police opened an investigation into the circumstances of the death, at this stage it was only said that he suffered a head injury.
For the past year Prometp has been living in the UK, where he studied at an academy for young football players. Upon his acceptance to the prestigious boarding school, Prometep said that it was a “dream come true” for him – and received compliments from his teammates in Thailand. Now they are paying tribute to his death, with many of his friends who were trapped with him in the cave in 2018 saying goodbye to him on social media.
“When we met for the last time before you went to England, you said that you would still play in the national team uniform. I always believed that you would do so, and I even told you in response that when you return I would like your autograph,” wrote Prachek Shoham, who was trapped together with Prometep in a cave and played with him in the team. “Rest in peace, my good friend. We will always be 13 friends together.”
Another member of the group wrote that “You always pushed me to move forward, and thanks to you I wanted to train so that I could reach your level. If the next world is real, I would like us to play soccer together there as well.”
As a reminder, in June 2018 it was reported that Prometep and 12 of his soccer team members were trapped in a cave in the Chiang Rai province of Thailand, which they entered as part of a group trip. Following heavy rains that hit the place, the cave was flooded, and the members of the group were trapped and could not get out.
Many countries sent rescue teams to assist the Thai Navy in the operation, including a rescue unit from Israel. In the first few days, the teams had difficulty finding the boys, and only when the rains ended and the water level dropped, were they able to deploy divers who arrived on the scene. Only after 17 days were the boys rescued safely, and transferred to the hospital for treatment.