Thirteen Lessons that Saved Thirteen Lives

John Volanthen began caving with the scouts at the age of 14 and is now a world record-holding British cave diver who has been at the forefront of underground rescue and exploration for over twenty years. Best known as the first diver to locate and contact the missing youth Thai soccer team with his diving partner Rick Stanton, he also planned and participated in the childrens rescue, carrying three children to safety. John has been involved in search, rescue and recovery operations as well as mapping caves worldwide. His many awards include the British and Commonwealth George Medal, Royal Humane Society Bronze medal and Scientific Exploration Society Pioneer with Purpose. With a background in medical electronics, John has invented underwater mapping devices, communications systems and state of the art, micro rebreathers, allowing divers to stay underwater longer than was previously possible. In 2005 at Wookey Hole in Somerset, Volanthen and Stanton advanced the British cave diving depth record to 90 m (295 ft). As part of an international team, he set a world record for the longest cave dive from the surface, reaching 10k m (33,000 ft) in the Pozo Azul cave system in the Rudron Valley in Spain. John lives in Bristol and continues to explore and document underwater caves throughout the world. He is always on standby for the next rescue.