CHIANG RAI, Thailand _ Smiling and dressed in matching soccer uniforms, 12 Thai boys and their coach Wednesday made their first public appearance since being rescued from a flooded cave, with one saying "it is a miracle" they survived.
The boys were released from a hospital in Chiang Rai in northern Thailand, where they were being treated after spending more than two weeks trapped deep inside the cave.
Speaking to the media in Chiang Rai, the boys ages 11 to 16 said they did not bring any food with them when they entered the Tham Luang Nang Non cave on June 23 for what they thought would be an hourlong hike.
They were trapped when a monsoon storm flooded the mazelike cavern, requiring an international effort involving thousands of divers and rescue personnel to locate and evacuate them to safety.
To survive, they drank the naturally filtered water that dripped off the cave walls and searched in desperation for a way out, the boys said.
"We didn't want to do nothing and just wait for help," said their 25-year-old coach, Ekkapol Chanthawong. "So we dug holes to find a way to escape and stopped when we were tired."
Doctors said the boys, who were skinny and weary when British divers found them, had each gained an average of more than six pounds since the rescue. They were due to return home to their families later Wednesday.
But they were still being closely monitored, and authorities in Chiang Rai screened questions from the media before the news conference.
The youngest of the survivors, 11-year-old Chanin Wiboonrungruen, said they felt "dizzy and hungry" while trapped inside the cave.
"We tried not to think of food, like fried rice, because it would make us hungrier," he said.
