At the same time that people all around the globe were rejoicing over the successful extraction of the Wild Boars soccer team from the Tham Luang cave in 2018, there was a service family that was inconsolable over the loss of one of their loved ones. The Kunans were obviously relieved to hear that the 12 junior athletes and their assistant coach had escaped the mission unscathed; nevertheless, they had already suffered the loss of Saman “Sam” Kunan, a retired Royal Thai Navy SEAL, during the operation. After all, it is revealed in the documentary series “Thai Cave Rescue” on Netflix that the former official had offered to assist, which ultimately had the greatest impact on his life partner; thus, shall we learn more about her?
Who is the Lady that Saman Kunan Has Married?
It was Valeepoan “Meow” Kunan (or Waleeporn “Meow” Gunan) who stuck with Sam through every difficult situation throughout the course of many years. This was the case whether Sam was still actively serving his country or had already retired. However, in spite of the fact that she was aware of the risks associated with his (previous) line of work, she could never have been ready to lose her love because it is simply not something that enters your mind as a possibility. The 6th of July, 2018, was therefore obviously one of the most difficult days of her life; it was the day when she lost her spouse and parted ways with her partner. Asphyxiation had been the cause of Sam’s death during the oxygen delivery dive.
In the year 2018, Valeepoan gave an interview to BBC News in which he stated that “other people’s eyes, he’s gorgeous.” “As for me, I adore him an incredible amount. I had a deep love for him. Before he went to work each day, we made sure to tell each other that we loved each other. We would text each other at noon to check and see if the other had had lunch. When he returned home in the evening, I would inquire about his well-being and see how he was doing. She then continued in an open and honest manner by saying, “Saman once stated that we never know when we would die.” Because we have no influence over it, we should make the most of each day.
Also read: How Did the Beam of Thai Cave Rescue Perish?
Who is Saman Kunan’s Wife and Where are They Now?
It had only been a few days since Valeepoan’s entire world had been turned upside down when she made this confession: “Whether you ask me if I am sad, it’s like I’ve died yet I’m still living. However, I keep my sadness at bay by relying on my pride. Because of his character, his commitment to helping others, and his success in achieving his goals, [my husband] was hailed as a hero. Therefore, I utilize pride as a means to help me cope with my loss. Then, after being asked what she would say to Saman if she had the opportunity, she responded, “I want to tell you honey, you are the hero in my heart.” You have always been, and you will always be.”
As a means of working through her grief in the days that followed the unexpected and untimely passing of her husband, Valeepoan paid tribute to him on her Instagram account, which has since been deleted. This should be mentioned. Reportedly, she wrote the words on June 7: “You will always be with me… nobody else is quite like you… If you’re not here with me, I don’t think I can continue to breathe… because we had made a pact with one another that we would breathe at the same time.
A few days later, Valeepoan uploaded a black-and-white snapshot of them together to her Instagram account, along with the caption “I miss you. I adore you; I adore you as though you were my very heart; I don’t know why I adore you so much… I don’t know why I adore you so much… Who will I kiss every morning when I wake up from here on out? On the other hand, it would appear that ever since that time, Valeepoan has totally disappeared from the public eye in what could be a sincere effort to put the hurt and the past in the past for good. Despite this, it is highly likely that she remains a resident of Thailand.
About Tham Luang cave rescue
A youth association football team and their assistant coach were rescued from the Tham Luang Nang Non cave in Chiang Rai Province in northern Thailand in the months of June and July 2018. On June 23, during a session of football practice, thirteen players of the squad, ranging in age from 11 to 16 years old, and their assistant coach, who was 25 years old, entered the cave. A short time later, the cave system was partially flooded as a result of severe rainfall, thereby closing their way out and trapping them deeper within.
Rising water levels and powerful currents made it difficult to locate the group, and over two weeks passed before anyone was able to make touch with them again. In response to the enormous interest shown by people all around the world, the rescue operation within the cave evolved into a major operation that involved teams from all over the world. The group was recovered alive on an elevated rock approximately 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) from the cave mouth on July 2 by British divers John Volanthen and Rick Stanton after they had advanced through a series of tight channels and navigated through murky waters. The organizers of the rescue considered a number of different strategies for evacuating the group, such as instructing the individuals to learn the fundamentals of scuba diving in order to facilitate an early rescue, waiting until a new entrance to the cave was discovered or drilled, or waiting for the floodwaters to recede by the end of the monsoon season a number of months later. The rescue crews hurried to get the group out of the cave before the next monsoon rain, which was expected to bring heavier downpours and was predicted to start around 11 July. This came after days of pumping water out of the cave system and a break in the rain.
An international team was able to successfully extract all 12 boys and their coach from the cave between the 8th and 10th of July.
More than 10,000 people participated in the rescue operation, including more than 100 divers, scores of rescue workers, representatives from approximately 100 government agencies, 900 police officers, and 2,000 troops. It took ten police helicopters, seven ambulances, more than 700 diving cylinders, and the pumping of almost one billion liters of water out of the caves in order to rescue the people trapped inside.
Saman Kunan, a former Royal Thai Navy SEAL who was 37 years old, passed away from asphyxiation on July 6 during an attempt to rescue a group of people who were trapped inside a cave. He was returning to a staging area inside the cave after delivering diving cylinders to the group that was trapped. In December of the following year, in 2019, rescue diver and Thai Navy SEAL Beirut Pakbara passed away as a result of a blood illness that he had caught during the operation.
The history, as well as the disappearance
The karstic cave complex known as Tham Luang Nang Non is located beneath the Doi Nang Non mountain range, which is located on the boundary between Thailand and Myanmar.
The network spans a distance of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), and it is comprised of a large number of caves, small corridors, and tunnels that spiral around hundreds of meters of limestone strata. At the entrance to the caverns is a notice that warns visitors not to go inside during the wet months of July through November. This is due to the fact that a portion of the cave network becomes flooded during these months.
After beginning their exploration of the cave on Saturday, June 23, 2018, a group of twelve boys ranging in age from 11 to 16 who were all members of a local junior football team called the Wild Boars, along with their assistant coach, Ekkaphon Chanthawong, who was 25 years old, were reported missing. Early news reports stated that they planned to have a birthday party in the cave after the football practice, and that they spent a substantial number of money on food; however, they disputed this in a news conference after they were rescued from the cave. After they had entered the cave, they were met with rapid and constant precipitation, which left the team trapped in the tunnels. When they ran away from the rising water, they were forced to leave part of their food supplies behind.
When head coach Nopparat Kanthawong checked his phone at approximately 7 o’clock in the evening, he discovered over twenty missed calls from parents who were concerned that their children had not returned home. Nopparat tried calling a number of the lads in rapid succession, as well as the assistant coach Chanthawong, but he was unsuccessful. Songpon Kanthawong, a member of the team who is 13 years old and claimed that he was taken up after practice and that the rest of the guys had gone exploring in the Tham Luang caverns. Eventually, he made his way to Songpon Kanthawong. The driver of the coach sped up to the caves as quickly as he could, where he found abandoned bicycles and luggage near the entrance of the tunnels, as well as water pouring out of the muddy track. After discovering that some of the members of the group had not collected their belongings, he reported the situation to the authorities.