‘My dream has come true’: Thai boy saved during Tham Luang cave rescue receives football scholarship

A teenager who was one of the 12 boys saved during the Tham Luang cave “miracle” rescue in Thailand in 2018 has received a scholarship to study football in England.

In an Instagram post on Aug. 15, Duangpetch “Dom” Promthep, 17, announced that he has been offered a scholarship to attend Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester, England.

“Today, my dream has come true. I’m going to be a football student in England,” Promthep wrote in Thai in the post. “I would like to thank Sport Education and the Zico Foundation for getting me this scholarship in England. Thank you to Brooke House College Football Academy to give scholarships to allow ‘upcountry’ kids like me to develop themselves.”

Promthep was one of the 12 Wild Boars football team members who got stuck in a cave in Thailand’s Mae Sai district in Chiang Rai province on June 23, 2018. The boys, who were aged between 11 and 16 years old at the time, were stranded along with their coach Nopparat Kanthawong.

Promthep, the captain of the team, was only 13 when the Wild Boars and their coach were reported missing. Two divers from the U.K. eventually found the team huddled inside Tham Luang cave around 10 days after they went missing.

It took an international effort of more than 10,000 people to find and save the team. The U.S. military joined the search, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk even offered to help out and suggested the use of a small submarine.

The rescue mission proved successful as all 12 team members and their coach made it out of the cave alive between July 8, 2018 and July 10, 2018.

The Tham Luang cave “miracle” rescue has inspired several movies, including “The Cave” (2019), “The Rescue” (2021) and Ron Howard’s recently released Amazon Prime film “Thirteen Lives.”

Featured Image via Global News

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