Duangphet Phromthep, one of the 12 boys saved during the Thai cave rescue in 2018, has died after moving to the UK on a football scholarship.
Duangphet won a place at the prestigious Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester late last year.
The cause of his death is still unclear but the 17-year-old was found unconscious in his dorm room in Leicestershire on Sunday and taken to hospital, where he died on Tuesday, the BBC reports.
Duangphet was the captain of the Thai boys’ football team, The Wild Boars, which became trapped in a cave along with their coach for two weeks while exploring the Tham Luang cave complex in Chiang Rai province in 2018. Duangphet was just 13 at the time.
Writing on Facebook after he discovered he would be moving to the UK, Duangphet said: “Today my dream came true. I’m going to be a football student in England.”
He regularly shared photographs of his time in the UK, posting images of him in London and studying at college.
One was captioned: “Don’t worry, dad. I will study hard. I won’t disappoint you.”
His Wild Boars teammates who were trapped alongside him in the cave system posted moving tributes to their friend, known as Dom, on social media.
“You told me to wait and see you play for the national team, I always believe that you would do it,” wrote Prachak Sutham, one of the boys who was rescued with Promthep in 2018.
“When we met the last time before you left for England, I even jokingly told you that when you come back, I would have to ask for your autograph.
“Sleep well, my dear friend. We will always have 13 of us together.”
Another of the boys, Titan Chanin Viboonrungruang, wrote: “Brother, you told me that we would be achieving our football dream... if the next world is real, I want us to play football together again, my brother Dom.”
Zico Foundation, a Thai non-profit organisation that had helped Duangphet win his scholarship to study in England, also expressed condolences on Facebook.
At Brooke House, he was coached by “Premier League referee Micky Adams” - an ex Fulham, Leeds and Southampton defender, and a former Leicester City manager.
Mr Adams, 61, joined the college in January 2020 as a technical director.
In a live chat on the school website he said the pupils he trained would be tested “tactically and physically” every day.
He added: “What we expect from all the students is to compete and improve and really get the most of each session.’
Brooke House College’s principal, Ian Smith, said the school was “devastated” by the death.
He said: “We unite in grief with all of Dom’s family, friends, former teammates and those involved in all parts of his life, as well as everyone affected in any way by this loss in Thailand and throughout the college’s global family.
“The college is liaising with statutory authorities and the Royal Thai Embassy in London, and dedicating all resources to assist our student body, as they as young people process Dom’s passing.”
The Wild Boars football team became trapped while exploring the vast 10km long cave complex in 2018 when heavy rainfall flooded the exit.
They were eventually rescued nine days later by a team of nearly 100 divers from countries across the world.
Efforts to locate the group were initially hampered by rising water levels and strong currents, and no contact was made for more than a week.
On July 2, after advancing through narrow passages and muddy waters, British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton found the group alive on an elevated rock about 4 kilometres from the cave mouth.
Between July 8 and 10, all 12 boys and their coach were rescued from the cave.
Saman Kunan, a 37-year-old former Royal Thai Navy Seal, died of asphyxiation during an attempted rescue on July 6 while returning to a staging base in the cave after delivering diving cylinders to the trapped group.
The following year, in December 2019, rescue diver and Thai Navy Seal Beirut Pakbara died of a blood infection contracted during the operation.
The dramatic rescue made headlines around the world, and various films and books were later made to retell the story, including a six-episode series released by Netflix.
A spokesman for Leicestershire Police said Duangphet’s death was not being treated as suspicious.
East Midlands Ambulance Service said they were called to the school after being called to a “medical emergency”.
They added: “We sent three paramedics in ambulance cars, a crewed ambulance and the air ambulance was also in attendance.
“We transported one patient via land ambulance to Kettering General Hospital.”
