British diver Josh Bratchley, who helped save Thai soccer team, brought back from US underwater cave in dramatic rescue
- Bratchley had been trapped in Mill Pond Cave in Tennessee for more than 24 hours
- Poor visibility and narrow spaces made cave system treacherous, says rescuer Edd Sorenson, who flew in from Florida
The passageway at the floor of the underwater cave was about 60cm (two feet) high and just a little wider than a broad set of shoulders. Just wide enough for Edd Sorenson to fit.
He was on a mission to find Josh Bratchley, a British diver who just last year had assisted in the harrowing rescue of the boys’ soccer team trapped in a cave in Thailand – but who was now in need of a dangerous rescue himself.
Bratchley was trapped somewhere within the Mill Pond Cave in Flynn’s Lick, Tennessee. A little-known cave system, it had only been explored by two other men before. And it was treacherous, said Sorenson, a world-class diver flown in from Florida to try to save him.
As he searched for Bratchley, he could barely see. The mud and the silt on the cave floor – a bed of jagged limestone – clouded the water as he swam through the tiny crawl space. He clutched a guideline and, in the absence of help from a map or even his own eyes, followed his instincts.
Hundreds of feet above the surface, an anxious rescue team watched the clock. It was 6pm on Wednesday, and by then, Bratchley had been trapped in the cave for more than 24 hours.
“Everyone was concerned that this was a recovery mission,” said Joey Denson, captain of the Jackson County Rescue Squad.