In 2018, the world watched as 12 young footballers from Thailand and their coach were freed from a cave after an 18-day ordeal.

The story drew significant media attention and countries from around the globe, including Australia, assisted with the rescue mission.

Miraculously, all of the young footballers from the Wild Boars team, aged between 11 and 17 at the time, and their coach, made it out alive.

Among the 12 was Duangpetch Promthep, also known as Dom, who was the captain and just 13 years old at the time.

On Wednesday night, it was confirmed Dom had died at age 17 in England. He was found unconscious in his dorm room at Brooke House College Football Academy in Leicestershire.

Dom was studying in England, thanks to a scholarship secured by former Thai national team captain and coach, Kiatisuk Senamuang.

His death is not being treated as suspicious, police said.

Duangpetch Promthep, one of the boys rescued from a flooded cave, is greeted by relatives at his home in July 2018. Photo: AAP

Where are the boys now?

After 18 days inside the cave, the boys got worldwide attention. Since their rescue, interest in them remained.

The New York Times reported contracts that the boys, their families and their coach signed prohibited them from telling their story of survival.

However, since the rescue, several books and documentaries have been released, detailing the ordeal.

At just 14 years old, Adul Sam-on communicated with the British divers when they came to rescue them. He speaks five languages, including English.

Speaking to The New York Times last year, Adul’s great-uncle and guardian, Go Shin Maung, said he initially dreamed of becoming a doctor.

However, Adul had a change of heart after the rescue, with Mr Go saying he was thinking of doing humanitarian work, potentially with the United Nations.

He also said the football team had gone their separate ways, but did still keep in contact.

The football team and their coach were stuck in the cave for 18 days.

“Some will pursue their studies and some are following football. They still chat and message with each other, sharing their experiences,” he told The New York Times.

As of last year, Adul was studying in New York. He, along with Mr Ekkapol, Pornchai Kamluang and Mongkhol Boonpiam, were all stateless at the time of the rescue.

In August 2018, all gained citizenship in Thailand.

Chanin Wibun Rungrueang was the youngest of the football team, aged 11 at the time of the rescue.

In 2019, the team was treated to a VIP tour of the Japan Football Museum. After the tour, Chanin announced his desire to become a professional football player was “even stronger”.

“I want to make money to help my parents,” he said, according to Kyodo News.

Speaking to the BBC in 2022, Chanin said he found it “very difficult” to deal with the media attention following the rescue.

“A lot of people knew about me and I didn’t know how to act … I felt tense when I was in front of the camera or being interviewed,” he said.

Back in 2019, alongside Dom, Phanumat Saengdi, aged 13 in 2018, spent three weeks at Brooke House College in England. 

Principal Mike Oliver said the two were inseparable and when they spoke to their peers about their experience in the cave, everyone was transfixed, Warwickshire World reported.

Chanin Vibul Rungruang, one of the 12 boys rescued from the flooded cave, in his hospital room at Chiang Rai Prachanukroh Hospital. Photo: AAP

Tributes roll in for Duangpetch Promthep

Prajak Sutham was one of the teammates stuck in the cave. Following the news of Dom’s death, Prajak penned a touching post on Facebook to his “dear friend”.

“The 13 of us have been through a lot of things together, sadness, happiness, risk of death,” Prajak said.

“You told me to wait and see when you join the national team. I always believed that you could do it.”

Prajak said the last time he saw Dom, he joked that one day he would be asking for his autograph.

Prajak also shared a post that seems to have been made by Mr Ekkapol.

“You will be in my heart forever,” he said.

Cave diver Rick Stanton led the cave rescue back in 2018.

In an email to CNN, he confirmed the team involved were aware of Dom’s death and said he was “shocked” by the news.

“When John Volanthen and I first found the Wild Boars at the end of a fraught nine-day search, it was Dom who took the lead and wrote the first messages to the outside world,” he told CNN in an email.

“As a personal recollection, it was Dom whose unconscious body I swam with as I escorted him to safety on the second day of the rescue mission.

“I carefully held his precious life in my grasp, bearing the full weight of responsibility towards his survival through the most extreme of circumstances.”

Senamuang also expressed his despair following the news of Dom’s death, saying he was “lovely, polite, gentle, kind”.