One of the 13 survivors of the Luang cave ordeal is a step closer to achieving his goal of becoming a professional football player after earning a scholarship to study at the Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicester, England.
Duangpetch "Dom" Phromthep, 17, on Tuesday posted a message on his Instagram account, saying "Today, my dream has come true because I will become a football student in England."
The Chiang Rai native thanked the Zico Foundation, founded by former national team striker and former head coach Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang, his teachers at Vachiralai School in Chiang Mai and private firms for providing him this opportunity.
"I want to thank coach Zico and I promise that I will do my best," Dom wrote.
Between June and July 2018, Thai and international rescue teams scoured the flooded Luang cave in Chiang Rai's Mae Sai district, to try to find 12 "Wild Boar" footballers aged between 11 and 16 and their 25-year-old assistant coach, who went to explore the cave complex on June 23. The "Wild Boar" members were trapped in the cave for 17 days before they were finally found by two British divers.
The site has now become a tourist attraction in Tham Luang Khun Nam Nang Non National Park, and the dramatic real-life rescue had inspired Hollywood film "Thirteen Lives".
