I nearly died in cave boys rescue, says British diver

But it almost ended in disaster for the 35-year-old from Cheddar, Somerset, when he was guiding the second-to-last boy, who wore a fullface breathing mask, through the pitch black tunnels of the cave.

After losing his grip on the “dive line” he was using to navigate, Mr Jewell spent four horrific minutes adrift in the murky water.

He said: “I thought, ‘bit of a problem, but I’ll just reach up for it’ – I was sweeping with my arms to pick up the dive line but couldn’t find it.”

He eventually grabbed hold of an electric cable and followed it back into a chamber he had already passed through.

He then waited for Australian doctor Richard Harris, who took the boy.

“If you never find that line again, the outcome will never be good,” Mr Jewell explained.

“We were lucky.”

Divers Rick Stanton, Jason Mallinson and John Volanthen were also part of the British team tasked with swimming the boys through the tunnels, which were 15 inches wide at their narrowest point.

Retired fireman Mr Stanton, one of the two divers who discovered the stranded group on July 2, described the “nerve-wracking” rescue operation.

The 57-year-old from Coventry said: “They were tethered to us, so you could free both your hands and know where they were. The child was right underneath, virtually in touch contact.”

He revealed that following the first successful run, a triumphant text message was sent back to Britain: “Boy 1 in chamber 3. Alive.”

The boys were kept calm during the 90-minute journey with a “degree of sedation”.

Mr Mallinson, 50, said: “When you go under the water, it’s surprisingly calming, even for a non-diver. They were incredibly brave and I never saw any signs of panic from any of them.”

The father-of-one, from Huddersfield, added that it was “a big deal being totally responsible for someone’s life”.

He said: “I had to be so careful I didn’t dislodge the lad’s mask. Having that responsibility for someone so young is nerve-wracking. If we had bashed the boys against the wall or the air supply had failed, they would have died.”

Both Mr Mallinson and Mr Jewell said they tried to suppress their emotions during the rescue, but Mr Mallinson admitted that on the final run: “I did get a lump in my throat, and think ‘we’ve done it’.”

Although the rescue proved a success, the divers said it had seemed a daunting task when they arrived at the scene days earlier.

Mr Mallinson said: “When I looked around the cave, a voice in the back of my mind said this could be the last time anyone sees these kids.

“Chris and I exchanged glances – I thought they are in a real predicament here. It is going to be really, really tough to get these kids out.”