An Australian doctor is at the centre of the onging attempt to rescue the young footballers and their soccer coach trapped in Tham Luang  cave in Chiang Rai.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that Richard Harris, an anaesthetist from Adelaide, has been one of the international dive experts seconded to assist with the difficult and dangerous rescue mission.

Dr Harris on Saturday undertook the dangerous dive through to the 12 Thai boys and their coach and later gave the final approval on the boys’ health, clearing the way for the rescue attempt which commenced yesterday and succeed in bringing out four of the survivors, the paper reported.

It is understood the British divers participating in the rescue specifically requested Dr Harris, and that he went back into the cave helping in the rescue effort.

David Strike, a dive event organiser, has known Dr Harris for more than a decade. He said Dr Harris had all the characteristics to undertake the rescue mission, according to the paper.

“He’s been diving for over 30 years, and readily embraced advances in diving technology to better help him explore and photograph caves in Australia and overseas,” Mr Strike told Fairfax Media.

“In the past few years, he’s been involved in cave-diving explorations in Australia, China, Christmas Island and New Zealand. He has an active interest in diving safety and accident investigation.

“Quite apart from his own cave exploration experiences, as an anaesthetist and a medical professional who is also involved in retrieval medicine, he has always struck me as a person who is capable of calmly assessing any situation and then acting appropriately.

 “Richard is just one member of a team of uniquely qualified and extraordinary people prepared to sacrifice their own comfort, safety and wellbeing for the benefit of others. It’s an over-used term, but all of those involved are true heroes,” Mr Strike was quoted as saying by the paper.