Boy rescued from Thai cave horror dies just weeks after landing in UK for football career
A teenager who was rescued from a flooded cave in Thailand five years ago has died in the UK.
Duangpetch Promthep was one of 12 young footballers from the Wild Boars team who became trapped in the Tham Luang cave for more than two weeks before a world-famous 2018 rescue mission eventually set them free.
It is unclear how Promthep died but it is believed the boy, thought to be 18 when he died, suffered a head injury and couldn’t be saved.
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Promthep came to the UK after receiving a “dream” scholarship to Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester in late 2022.
(Image: ROYAL THAI NAVY HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/REX)
In a heart-wrenching post at the time, he wrote: “Today my dream came true. I’m going to be a football student in England.
“I would like to thank sport education and Chico foundation for giving me a scholarship in England.
“Thank you Brooke House College Football Academy for giving a scholarship to football development to children from other provinces like me.”
(Image: Supplied)
Once he arrived, the teenager regularly posted about his new life in Blighty on social media, with snaps showing him at football practice and exploring London with his friends.
One post was captioned: “Don’t worry, dad. I will study hard. I won’t disappoint you.”
The news of the teenager’s death emerged after his mother shared the bad news with members of the Wat Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai, where he and his were from.
(Image: Pongmanat Tasiri/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)
Taking to Facebook, a Buddhist monk named Supatpong Methigo broke the news of the tragic passing and said they had been informed by the boy’s grandmother.
The monk said: “Duangphet Phromthep has gone to a good place.”
Promthep had a brush with death when he, his teammates and their assistant coach entered the Tham Luang cave on June 23 2018, where they became trapped.
(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The group was stuck in the flooded cave in northern Thailand for 18 days before a team of nearly 100 specialist divers, led by British experts and Thai Navy SEALs, managed to free the entire team.
However, ex-Navy SEAL Saman Kunan, 37, tragically died of asphyxiation during the rescue operation.
The story made global headlines and has since inspired numerous books, films, and TV episodes, including Netflix’s limited 2022 series, Thai Cave Rescue.
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