image source,Getty Images
Duan Pei and his teammates survived the darkness of being invisible.
The BBC has learned that Duangpetch Promthep, the captain of the wild boar football team who escaped from the trapped incident in the Sleeping Beauty Cave (Tham Luang) in northern Thailand in 2018, died unexpectedly at the age of 17 while studying at a football school in the UK.
Duan Pei has been studying at this boarding school in Leicestershire, central England, since last year. The BBC learned that Duan Pei was found unconscious in the dormitory last Sunday (February 12) and was sent to the hospital for treatment. He died on Tuesday (14th).
In June 2018, Duan Pei, 13 other team members and teaching assistants encountered floods during their expedition to the Sleeping Beauty Cave in Chiang Rai Province. They were trapped in the dark cave and were rescued only 18 days later. The rescue process has attracted international attention.
Jonathan Head, a BBC South East Asia correspondent who was on the scene to cover the rescue process, said that when the divers found them, Duan Pei was illuminated by a flashlight on his forehead, and his grin was the most impressive in the whole rescue operation. One of the scenes.
The specific cause of Duan Pei’s death is still to be announced by relevant parties, but the Leicestershire Police Department stated that the circumstances of Duan Pei’s death were not suspicious; Thai media said Duan Pei suffered a head injury.
A spokesman for the East Midlands Ambulance Service (East Midlands Ambulance Service) said Duan Pei was taken to hospital by ambulance on Sunday afternoon, and the ambulance team also dispatched an ambulance helicopter to the scene.
image source,Royal Thai Navy
Duan Pei (right), nine days in the dark when he was discovered, still smiled at the divers.
In August 2022, Duan Pei, nicknamed Xiaodong (Dom), announced on Instagram that he has won a scholarship and will go to the Brooke House College Football School in Market Harborough, Leicestershire. Football Academy). The wild boar football team was excited.
Duan Pei wrote at the time: “Today my dream has come true.”
After six months, the players had to mourn the captain who died young.
Duan Pei’s Instagram account is full of posts about football, often with the hashtag #footballismylife.
In his last post in January, he showed off sketches of his “Dream Team football kit” — a blue and pink striped jersey, shorts, socks and shoes.
Teammate Titan (Titan Chanin Viboonrungruang) was interviewed by BBC in 2022. He posted that he hoped to play with Duan Pei again “in the sky” in the future.
Duan Pei’s death overshadows happy ending
Jonathan Head, BBC Southeast Asia correspondent
On July 19, 2018, the rescued Duan Pei (left) returned home after being discharged from the hospital, and was interviewed by the media with his mother Tanapeng (right).
“Xiaodong” Duan Pei died suddenly at the football academy in the UK, the reason is still unknown. When he won the scholarship last year, he was extremely proud.
For the first time, a story that has always been full of positive energy and inspiration is overshadowed by sadness.
The brilliant saga of the Thai boys being rescued from a cave in July 2018 was one of those rare things in journalism: an almost seamless happy ending.
When he was awarded a scholarship to study in England last year, Xiaodong thanked Zico, the former captain of the Thai national team, for setting up the scholarship and promised to study hard.
He wrote: “I will do my best.” Looking at him and his teammates all the way, attracting the attention of the world, but being so humble, everyone is convinced that he can fulfill his promise.
News of Duan Pei’s death spread after his mother, Thanaporn Phromthep, notified Wat Phra That Doi Wao in Chiang Rai, and the members of the Wild Boars released condolence messages one after another.
The BBC Thai website reported that Kiatisuk Senamuang, the founder of the Zico Foundation (Zico Foundation) who awarded the scholarship to Duan Pei and former captain of the Thai national football team, said that he received the scholarship on Sunday. Received the notice that Duan Pei fainted in the British dormitory. As far as he knew, the supervisor of the dormitory immediately called the police and sent Duan Pei to the hospital for emergency treatment.
The hospital then notified the Thai embassy in the UK, and the Zico Foundation notified Tuanpuy’s mother, Thanapon. Tanapeng expressed the hope that his son’s body could be transported back to his hometown for burial, and Kadisuk said he would coordinate the matter.
Kadisuk thinks that Duan Pei is physically strong, and as far as he knows, Duan Pei has no old problems.
The Zico Foundation also posted condolences to Duan Pei on its social media.
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Ending Instagram Post, 1
Ian Smith, president of Brookhouse College, said the school was “deeply saddened and shocked” by Duan Pei’s sudden death. “Our hearts go out to Xiaodong’s family, friends, former teammates and those who were involved in his life, and everyone affected by his passing in Thailand and in the international family at the Academy,” he said.
On Thursday (16th), the Zico Foundation reposted President Smith’s letter to all teachers, students and parents on social media, in which he praised Duan Peize for his kindness and hoped that he would rest in peace.
The Sleeping Beauty Cave Incident
On June 23, 2018, the members of the Wild Boars football team rode their bicycles to the Sleeping Beauty Cave after practice, where they often played and had fun.
However, the sudden torrential rain flooded the extremely narrow passage in the cave, trapping 12 players including Duan Pei and an assistant coach in the cave.
For the first nine days after the incident, the youths faced darkness in the cave without any rations. Outside the cave, 10,000 people from various parties tried to rescue them, but they were finally found by diving experts from the UK, and all of them were rescued one after another.
Duan Pei spent his 13th birthday in the cave, the rest of the team were aged between 11 and 16 at the time, and assistant coach Ekkaphon Kanthawong (Ekkaphon Kanthawong) was 25 years old at the time.
As the boys tried to escape by digging through rocks, the teaching assistant taught them to meditate to maintain calm and reduce oxygen consumption.
During the planning of the rescue plan, divers brought them food and letters of encouragement from their families. In order to take them out of the cave safely, rescuers decided to give them the sedative drug ketamine, and the last five trapped people were seen again on July 10.
The rescue made international headlines and was later the subject of a movie and book. Streaming video platform Netflix produced a six-episode mini-documentary series last year.