Our thoughts are with the family of Thai diver Saman Gunan who died as a true hero attempting to rescue the trapped schoolchildren in the cave system in Thailand. A former Thai navy diver has died while taking part in efforts to rescue 12 boys and their football coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.

Petty Officer Saman Gunan lost consciousness on his way out of the Tham Luang cave complex, where he had been delivering air tanks.

The death of Saman Kunan, 38, a volunteer and former Thai Navy Seal, came as a cruel jolt to the tireless efforts of divers, engineers and caving experts who have been working furiously to extract the children aged 11-16, and their coach, 25, since they were found sheltering in a muddy chamber on Monday.

Petty Officer Kunan died on his way out of the cave complex where he had been delivering air tanks to different locations along the treacherous submerged route that leads to the chamber some 2.5 miles from the main exit.

“His job was to deliver oxygen. He did not have enough on his way back, He had started his dive shortly after 8.30pm and his diving buddy tried in vain to revive him in an underground cavern after he passed out, but he was declared dead at 1am in “Chamber 3”, a staging area for the rescue operation.

“Inside the cave is tough,” said Thai Seal commander Rear Admiral Arpakorn Yookongkaew. But he added: “I can guarantee that we will not panic, we will not stop our mission, we will not let the sacrifice of our friend go to waste.”

The people carrying out this task on a working day are very poorly paid and are now doing this rescue on a volunteer basis. with this in mind the Royal Navy Clearance Divers Association, are collecting to enable us to hopefully give a sizeable donation to the family of this downed fellow diver. To help them through this very difficult time