Hero Thai navy SEAL who helped rescue trapped soccer team from a cave dies of a blood infection he contracted while saving the children
- Thai navy SEAL Petty Officer Beiret Bureerak has died from a blood infection
- He helped rescue the Wild Boars soccer team from a cave in Thailand in 2018
- Bureerak contracted the infection while he was rescuing the children
A Thai navy SEAL who took part in the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand last year has died from a blood infection he contracted during the operation, the Royal Thai Navy said on Friday.
Petty Officer Beiret Bureerak had been receiving treatment, but his condition worsened, the navy said in a statement.
Another rescuer, former navy diver Sergeant Saman Kuman, died during the rescue operation.
Petty Officer Beiret Bureerak had been receiving treatment, but his condition worsened, the navy said in a statement
Wild Boars Academy´s coach Ekapol Chanthawong and 12 boys had gone to explore the Tham Luang caves in Chiang Rai province on June 23, 2018, when a rainy-season downpour flooded the cave system and trapped them underground.
They survived for nine days on water dripping from rocks before they were discovered.
Volunteers from abroad joined the rescue effort, which ended on July 10 when the boys and their coach were all brought out safely.
![A Thai navy SEAL who took part in the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand last year has died from a blood infection he contracted during the operation, the Royal Thai Navy said on Friday. The Wild Boars team are pictured](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/12/27/13/22709554-7830281-image-a-46_1577453336672.jpg)
A Thai navy SEAL who took part in the dramatic rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in northern Thailand last year has died from a blood infection he contracted during the operation, the Royal Thai Navy said on Friday. The Wild Boars team are pictured