Thai Cave Diver's Widow Tells Rescued Boys 'Please Don't Blame Yourselves'

The wife of the ex-Thai Navy diver who passed away while rescuing the trapped members of a youth soccer team has a heartwarming message to the boys who were blamed by some Thais on social media.

Speaking in front of reporters, the wife of former Thai Navy SEALS unit member Samarn Kunan named Valeepoan Kunan wanted to tell the 12 boys and their coach that they are not responsible for his death.

"I want to tell the boys, please don't blame yourselves," Valeepoan told the press as reported by Reuters.

Samarn passed away on Friday, July 6, after losing consciousness while on a mission to transfer oxygen tanks inside the flooded Tham Luang cave in Northern Thailand where the members and coach of the Wild Boars youth soccer team had been trapped since June 23. His death happened two days before the first four boys were successfully extracted from the cave.

Aside from her message to the boys, Valeepoan also shared several photos on Instagram taken when her husband was still alive.

In one of the photos that were written in Thai said no one could ever replace her husband in her life. Another one showed the two of them in a tight hug and said in the caption that they share a happy embrace in the photo.

A lot of netizens from different parts of the world offered their condolences and praised Samarn for his heroic deed.

According to one commenter, "The world see Saman's life as a beautiful gift and a tragic loss. Your loss must be so painful, your heart full of pride. You reflect his love and may the love from all humanity support you."

Meanwhile, the rescued Wild Boars members are currently recovering in isolation at the Chiang Rai Prachanukroh hospital after being trapped for over two weeks in the flooded cave.