Thirteen Lessons that Saved Thirteen Lives by John Volanthen

Thirteen Lessons that Saved Thirteen Lives by John Volanthen

Author:John Volanthen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aurum
Published: 2021-09-15T00:00:00+00:00


OWNING IT IN THE REAL WORLD

One of the most powerful tools when taking responsibility is honesty and when facing up to a challenge, we can use it in a number of ways.

So, for example . . .

Honesty of strength: If you are the most able first aider in the group of friends on a hiking trip, take responsibility for administering any medical assistance should it be required.

Honesty of weakness: if your GCSE in Spanish was taken twenty years ago, maybe leave the food ordering to a more linguistically capable friend during a holiday abroad.

Honesty of situation: when things are going horribly wrong, or you’re feeling out of your depth in a work project, ask for help, or advice.

Honesty of consequences: if you’re going to participate in a sport as dangerous as base-jumping, adopting the ‘it-won’t-happen-to-me’ mindset serves as a flimsy insurance policy. Accept there are risks involved.

Honesty of action: after making a mistake that carries implications for others, own up to it as soon as possible.

I was faced with that very situation after returning from our first food run into the cave. Having deposited my two kit bags of ration packs in chamber nine, I made the heavy return journey to the entrance only to become tangled up in an underwater spider’s web of black wire, much of which had been laid in the days before the cave had fully flooded. At that time, the Thai Navy SEALs were attempting to set up a telephone line throughout Tham Luang and I remember thinking then it was just one of a handful of unlikely operations that were being discussed.

Nevertheless, the long shot that it might be possible to communicate via phone inside the tunnels seemed too good to resist, and given the work had gone on regardless, I had no way of knowing whether the cable that held me fast was now unused, or the focus of some ongoing effort. I attempted to wriggle free from the tangle, but it was no good; the wire was irreversibly wound round my leg. My only route out was to cut sightlessly through the wire with my shears. Now free, I continued towards chamber three and the dive base, wrestling with the implications of my actions. Part of me wanted to put my head in the sand, to pretend that it hadn’t really happened.

Do I say something? Do I not say something? I might have really fucked up here . . .

I then realised that other divers were possibly swimming into Tham Luang to lay more wire, risking their lives in the process. If a communication line was eventually established, but a malfunction caused by my incident was discovered, somebody would then have to figure out the cause of the problem. A process of that kind could potentially last for days. In the end, I knew I had to do the right thing and admit to my actions.

‘This is what I’ve done. This is where the break is,’ I confessed, ‘I can go back in and fix it.



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