Review: Against All Odds: Young Readers' Edition


I recall the grim news reports back in winter 2018 of a group of boys trapped in a complex cave system somewhere in Thailand with the same shocked yet useless curiosity that so many other harrowing headlines elicit. We are moved for an instant yet our attention is inexorably pushed onto the next plight until it’s time to serve dinner. Distance, a deficit of understanding, edited media content and an inability to do anything meaningful in response can cause a wane in empathy, which I confess, I am not immune to. So, when I received a copy of Craig Challen and Richard Harris’, Against All Odds – young readers’ edition, I pounced on the opportunity to learn more.

Against All Odds sits beside a small slew of titles covering this subject along with a couple of stirring motion pictures and Netflix series, but this edition, especially edited for younger readers, is by the two Aussies who helped make a significant difference to the outcome of this drama involving:

Twelve boys.

One coach.

Two Aussie heroes.

Supremely accomplished cave divers, Craig Challen, an experienced veterinarian with a group of successful practises and Richard Harris, aka Harry, a qualified anaesthesiologist, were both at the stage of their lives when work had taken a back seat in favour of adventure but age was starting to curb opportunity when they finally received the call to assist in Thailand. The story began one stormy afternoon after the Wild Boars soccer team, a young squad comprising of boys aged between 13 – 15 years, had just completed a training match. Most went home but some decided to celebrate a team mate’s birthday within the Tham Luang Cave system in far north Thailand. This was on June 23, just days before the caves were due to close to the public for the wet season when it is deemed too dangerous to enter.

Unfortunately, the rains came early causing severe flooding in many of the chambers leading to the boys’ location cutting them off without any means of escape. Their demise was soon reported which led to the arrival of the Thai Navy SEALs and a mass of other emergency organisations including the AFP. Specialist cave divers from around the world convened however due to worsening conditions and rising floodwaters, it was deemed too hazardous to proceed. On the 2 July, UK divers finally enter Chamber 9 where the soccer team and their coach are trapped. Navy SEALS enter along with a Thai doctor who ends up remaining with the boys. Four days later Harry and Craig arrive to assist with a seemingly improbable plan to sedate and extract the trapped boys one by one.

The telling of this real-life crisis unfolds in a conversational yet deeply personal way thanks to alternative chapters voiced by Craig and Harry. From their respective viewpoints we gain a sense of the immense scope of the operation, the number and expertise of those involved and the overriding sense of ‘realness’. Dread squats alongside discomfort, disbelief and desperation every minute of the 17 days the boys are trapped underground. The rescue effort amounted to an aggregation of some 10,000+ people including over 100 divers, 900 police officers and 2000 soldiers. Support crew notwithstanding, those who consoled, fed, cleaned and coordinated rescue workers, media hounds and distraught family members throughout. Honestly the magnitude of this recuse is mind boggling. God only knows how this contributed to the pressure on those to ‘get them out’.

The rescue plan instigated by Craig and Harry was unprecedented, daring and riddled with risk and yet each of those trapped emerged from Chamber 9 in tack and very much alive. Two people though, did die in the attempt. Their bravery and that of every single person involved does not go unmentioned or unacknowledged by Harry and Craig who describe the entire experience with detailed candour and care so that young readers will appreciate the magnitude of the event without suffocating in the trauma. Indeed, I have shared this title with upper primary school students as an exemplary example of leadership quality and styles. The employment of the appeals of ethos, pathos and logos was relied on heavily by Craig and Harry with the most positive and successful outcome either of them could have imagined.

I’d be intrigued to revisit this tale on the big screen in due course, however for now, recommend this firsthand narrated version from two of the men who were on the very frontline of this incredible rescue. Bravery, insight, tenacity, friendship and teamwork: themes that any good novel aspires to relay; Against All Odds does so in spadefuls. As Craig states in a wonderful aphorism that sums up my own beliefs: life can lead you to the most unexpected places. The life of an adventurer is not for everyone. But everyone can be adventurous in their life and we urge you to do so. You never know where it will take you.

Just make sure it’s not into a flooded cave system during the wet season!

Title: Against All Odds: Young Readers' Edition
Authors: Craig Challen and Richard Harris with Ellis Henican
Publisher: Puffin Imprint, Penguin, $17.99
Publication Date: 2 August 2022
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9780143778202
For ages: 10 - 17
Type: Non-Fiction 

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