Captain of Soccer Team in Famous Thai Cave Rescue Dies at 18

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https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/captain-of-soccer-team-in-famous-thai-cave-rescue-dies-at-18/ar-AA17vxD4?cvid=44cee92a3e3d4eaea64ddc6939426a2e

 

 

One of the 12 miracle boys who survived nearly three weeks trapped in a cave in Thailand in 2018 has died at a soccer academy in the United Kingdom. His cause of death has been deemed an “accident” tied to a head injury, according to the BBC. 

Authorities have not confirmed whether it happened on or off the soccer pitch.

Duangpetch Promthep, 18, known to his friends as Dom, became the public face as captain of the Wild Boar boys’ soccer team after their miraculous rescue from a flooded cave on June 23, 2018. He announced in August 2022 that he had been accepted to the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire, writing on social media, “Today my dream has come true. I will be a football student in Britain. I am grateful to everyone that helped with the scholarship to study overseas. I promise I will study hard and do my best.”

Six months later, soccer star Kiatisuk “Zico” Senamuang, whose Zico Foundation had funded Promthep’s soccer academy through a scholarship, announced the teen’s death on Facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/ZicoFoundation/photos/a.570505556370338/5984620581625448/?type=3

 

In Thailand, Promthep’s mother mourned his death at the Wat Doi Wao temple in Chiang Rai, where he grew up. Several of the boys rescued with him left memorial notes, according to ABC News Australia. 

“You told me to wait and see you play for the national team, I always believe that you would do it,” wrote Prachak Sutham, a fellow survivor of the cave. “When we met the last time before you left for England, I even jokingly told you that when you come back, I would have to ask for your autograph. Sleep well, my dear friend. We will always have 13 of us together.”

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I, like many here, became engrossed in the saga of the Wild Boars from the time the first news of their situation first broke. I can't think of any event that brought the people of the world together spiritually than did their subsequent rescue. Here are some photos of Dom from the moment British divers found the team in the cave.

R.I.P.

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The BBC story

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-64646039?xtor=AL-72-[partner]-[bbc.news.twitter]-[headline]-[news]-[bizdev]-[isapi]&at_ptr_name=twitter&at_format=link&at_campaign=Social_Flow&at_campaign_type=owned&at_bbc_team=editorial&at_link_type=web_link&at_medium=social&at_link_origin=BBCWorld&at_link_id=DF8B24FA-AD33-11ED-A455-3A270EDC252D

 

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and an update on some of the others

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-64648769

[reader]

In this undated team photo taken prior to becoming trapped in the cave, Dom can be seen sitting on left.

[reader]

From The Nation

Funeral in Chaing Rai 'drew Duangphet’s soul home' from UK

The funeral for one of the 12 boys rescued from a flooded cave in Chiang Rai in 2018 was held at Wat Phra That Doi Wao in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district on Thursday night.

Duangphet "Dom" Promthep, 17, one of the Wild Boar football team members who – along with their coach – was trapped in Tham Luang Cave in 2018, died in England on Tuesday, after collapsing in his dormitory room on Sunday.

He won a scholarship to study at Brooke House College, a football academy about 150 kilometres north of London, in August last year, and subsequently flew to England in September.

Duangphet's parents and relatives, as well as other members of the Wild Boar football team, attended the funeral.

Monks led by abbot Phra Kru Prayut Chetiyanukarn conducted the funeral rites using Duangphet's photo, clothes and shoes instead of his body, which remains in England.

The funeral was held to make merit for Duangphet and lead his soul back to his hometown, the temple’s abbot said.

"I believe that Duangphet's soul has returned to his hometown to meet his parents and friends who gathered to make merit for him," he said.

He also expressed hope that Duangphet becomes his parents' son again in a future life, adding that those who attended the funeral had done their best to bring his soul home.

The Royal Thai Embassy in London said Duangphet was sent to a hospital's intensive care unit after losing consciousness in his dormitory room on Sunday.

"On Tuesday morning, Duangphet remained in critical condition before he died at 1.43pm [local time]," the embassy said, adding that the hospital had informed Duangphet's relatives.