Footage reveals the rescue of British hero diver missing for 28 hours
Dramatic bodycam footage shows the moment rescuers reach a British diver who had been missing for 28 hours – nine months after he was one of the heroes who helped save 12 Thai boys trapped in an underwater cave
- Josh Bratchley rescued from an air pocket in an underwater cave on Wednesday
- He was found by a specialist diver, Edd Sorensen, in Mill Pond Cave, Tennessee
- Bodycam footage shows Mr Bratchley covered in mud trapped on an underwater ledge
Newly released bodycam footage reveals the moment a hero diver was rescued after being trapped in an underwater cave for 28 hours.
Josh Bratchley was one of the specialist divers who helped to save the 12 Thai boys stuck in an underwater cave in July last year.
He had gone diving in Mill Pond Cave, Tennessee, on Tuesday and wasn’t discovered until the next evening.
Bodycam footage shows his rescuer, Edd Sorensen, find him sitting on an underwater ledge covered in mud.
Mr Sorensen says: ‘How are you feeling? I’m Edd Sorensen.’
He immediately begins to work out the best route out of the 400 foot long underwater cave system.
He can be heard saying: ‘Try and slide off here and come in head first to this’.
After guiding Mr Bratchley out of the winding turns, Mr Sorensen emerges by a grassy bank where other people are waiting to help.
Mr Bratchley, who became trapped underwater after he lost his guiding line, told his saviour: ‘I’m used to being on the other end of the rescue’.
The first glimpse of stranded Josh Bratchley as he was found after being missing for 28 hours by specialist diver Edd Sorensen
Mr Sorensen guided Mr Bratchley through the winding turns of the 400ft long underwater cave system
Once the pair finally resurface by a grassy bank they are greeted by lots of other specialists who help them out
Mr Sorensen told GMA how Bratchley reacted when he first appeared in the air pocket and how he joked afterwards as he was being questioned about his condition that he was used to being the one asking the questions.
‘He was up in an air pocket, that’s where we were hoping he was if there was any chance of his survival.
‘When I first breached the surface, I was looking directly at him and he just said, “Thank you. Thank you,”‘ Mr Sorensen said.
He added: ‘After he thanked me I started asking him questions, and he said, “I’m not used to being on this end of the rescue.”
Bratchley is said to be in ‘good health and good spirits’, according to Bill Whitehouse, Vice Chairman of the British Cave Rescue Council.
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Hero diver, Josh Bratchley, has been saved from an underwater cave in Tennessee. He was one of a number of divers credited with saving 12 Thai football players last year
Edd Sorensen, a specialist cave diver, rescued Mr Bratchley on Wednesday night. He spoke out on Thursday morning about it
He was evaluated by medical professionals but refused treatment, witnesses at the scene said.
‘His only request was he wanted pizza,’ said Derek Woolbright, EMA spokesperson, during a press conference.
Sorensen said he was relieved to find the young diver alive.
‘In the cave, the guideline to the surface, if things go wrong that’s our only way home so when he got lost off the line, it’s just pure silt. One slip and the visibility goes from whatever you had to nothing in the blink of an eye.
‘Once he got off the line, there was really no chance for him.
‘Rescues are very, very rare. Any time I can bring somebody home to their family and not in a bag, it’s a great day,’ he said.
Bratchley, a meteorologist by trade, was reported missing late Tuesday after the group surfaced from a dive and he was nowhere to be seen.
He travelled to Northern Tennessee from the United Kingdom with a group who had been conducting a series of dives inside the submerged cavity for the last few days, ABC News reported.
Authorities were contacted by the group shortly after they conducted their own search of the cavern but failed to find any trace of him.
Specialty divers were summoned to the area to assist the rescue mission and plunged beneath the surface at around 6pm on Wednesday, Chattanooga Hamilton County Rescue Services said.
Mr Bratchley is shown in the pond before going missing. He was able to survive by finding an air pocket inside the complex network of caves
According to first responders, the cave contains an ‘air bell’ with enough oxygen to last at least 24 hours.
Rescuer Edd Sorrenson said he found Bratchley’s waiting in one of the air pockets in a conscious and stable condition.
‘He said “Thank you, thank you. Who are you?”‘ Sorenson recalled in a press conference. ‘We had a nice talk.’
‘This was a really small, nasty cave,’ Sorrenson continued, before adding that he was surprised to find Bratchley alive.
The route to him, the diver said, was around 400 feet long and 40 feet beneath the surface, with limited visibility.
Blatchley was successfully recovered just 48 minutes after Sorrenson first dived below the surface of the water.
Specialty divers went to the area to assist the rescue mission Wednesday evening
Bratchley was awarded an MBE for his efforts in helping to rescue the Thai soccer team and their coach
Jackson County EMA public information officer Derek Woolbright said in a news conference on Wednesday that rescuers believe Bratchley is waiting in an airbell 400ft into the cave
Rescuers map out the route they planned to take to find Bratchley
‘There had been previous mapping of the cave by Tennessee Tech University and there [were] some air pockets that had been identified, I believe, previously that the diver was aware of so it’s a very good possibility that he would seek that out once he found himself in distress,’ Jackson County EMA public information officer Derek Woolbright said in a news conference on Wednesday.
‘This individual is known to be very experienced in this kind of thing.’
Bratchley was credited among a group of elite international divers involved in the intense operation of 12 young Thai soccer players and their coach in June 2018.
The group entered the cave during low tide, but excessive flooding soon blocked their exit and they were forced to retreat deeper into the cave.
Heavy rains then exacerbated the water levels and rescuers found themselves in a race against time to save the group’s lives.
Following a three-week ordeal, divers eventually found the group – hungry, but alive – huddled on a dry patch of land deep into the cave.
Handpicked for the mission, Bratchley was later awarded an MBE – standing for ‘Member of the Order of the British Empire’ – for his efforts by the Queen.
‘It’s incredible to be recognized in such a way and all of us on the team are extremely appreciative of all the support that we’ve received from family, friends, cavers, divers, colleagues and strangers alike,’ he said at the time.
One of the elite divers drowned during the rescue mission.
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