Ep. 128: Dr. Richard Harris - Inside the Thai Cave Rescue

I am delighted and honoured to bring you an amazing conversation that comes at an excellent time. While the world is currently gripped by the Coronavirus, there was a time when the world’s foremost news story was something completely different – and more positive. In 2018, the world’s foremost international news story was something that made us all feel good – the rescue of the Wild Boars football team from the Tham Luang cave in northern Thailand.

As you will hear however, that happy ending was by no means guaranteed. My guest today is Dr. Richard Harris – or Harry as he is known. Dr. Harris is an anaesthesiologist and expert cave diver. It was the confluence of these two skills that brought him to play the crucial role he played in the rescue. The stakes could not have been any higher and Harry did not even think the plan he helped design and would implement would work. But, as he puts it, it was a choice between letting the kids die a slow, painful death – or giving it a go.

For his efforts, he and his compatriot Craig Challen were given the Australian of the Year award. In spite of that, Dr. Harris is humble, possesses a service mindset, and is very quick to acknowledge that this was an amazing team effort – and a victory for the human spirit.

This is a wonderful conversation that deals with many of the themes we regularly tackle at All Things Risk: