British diver who rescued Thai boys from cave is rescued from cave

British hero Josh Bratchley declares he’s fine and immediately orders pizza

A member of the expert British diving team who rescued a group of boys from a cave network in Thailand has been rescued from a cave network.

Josh Bratchley waited 28 hours to be saved from a flooded tunnel in Jackson County, Tennessee, after failing to return to the surface with his friends at around 3pm local time (9pm BST) on Tuesday.

The group of British friends spent several worried hours searching for Mr Bratchley to no avail and alerted the authorities early on Wednesday morning.

Two esteemed divers flew in from Arkansas and Florida, and began a rescue attempt at around 6pm local time (midnight BST).

It took less than an hour to retrieve Mr Bratchley from the 400ft cave system – the divers found him waiting calmly in an air pocket.

“He was awake, alert and oriented,” rescue official Derek Woolbright told a press conference.

Praised by the rescue team for his composure, Mr Bratchley declined medical attention upon his re-emergence – immediately ordering a pizza instead.

“There were broken lines and it was a very silty, dangerous low cave,” said rescue diver Edd Sorenson. “We came up to the air pocket and shockingly there he was, calm as could be.

“He just said, ‘Thank you, thank you. Who are you?’

“I could’ve got to him sooner, but I was looking at every nook and cranny looking for a body.”

Mr Sorenson suggested that despite the speedy rescue, Mr Bratchley is in fact lucky to be alive.

The air pocket in which Mr Bratchley spent the night was quite large – providing a decent supply of oxygen and, crucially, allowing him to get out of the water.

“If he had been treading water, neck deep, he would have probably been hypothermic and possibly gone by the time I got there,” Mr Sorenson said.

Once above the surface, Mr Bratchley confirmed he was fine, with medics at the scene also declaring him stable.

Lieutenant Brian Krebs, of Chattanooga Hamilton County Rescue Services agreed, telling the press conference: ”He really did this for himself.

“Most of what happened here today was Josh, his mental state is excellent, he’s in good health, he’s fine.”

Mr Bratchley, a meteorologist, was appointed MBE at the 2019 New Year Honours list for his role in the rescue of a Thai junior football team last year.

Additional reporting by PA