Australian anesthesiologist and cave diver Dr. Richard Harris played a critical role in rescuing the 12 soccer team members and their coach trapped in a flooded Thailand cave since June 23, according to the New York Post.
All the boys and their coach have since been rescued.
Dr. Harris works for the South Australian Ambulance Service's aeromedical evacuation service MedStar. He joined Thai navy and medical experts as they prepared to evacuate the trapped team and their coach from the Tham Luang cave complex in Thailand's Chiang Rai Province.
On July 8, he ventured into a subterranean chamber to check on the victims after they had been trapped for over two weeks. He recommended the weakest boys be rescued before their stronger teammates, changing the initial strategy of taking the strongest first. The first four were rescued July 8.
Dr. Harris had planned to go on a cave-diving trip in Western Australia July 6 when British officials asked for his help in the dangerous rescue mission. A former Thai Navy SEAL rescuer died July 5 after delivering supplies to the trapped group, CBS News reports.
Dr. Harris has over 30 years of diving experience and worked on National Geographic documentaries and feature films as an underwater cameraman and medical support. He is a member of the Explorers Club of New York and received an Australian award for 'Outstanding Contributions to Cave Exploration.' In 2011, he recovered the body of Agnes Milowka, 29, after she ran out of air in Tank Cave near Mount Gambier in South Australia.
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