The 12 Thai boys recovering in a hospital were discharged from the hospital on Wednesday. They were rescued from a flooded cave after a deadly mission involving many divers from around the world.

As they made their first public appearance in front of reporters in their Wild Boars team shirts, the story behind the miraculous escape from the cave came in detail. All the young soccer players were aged around 11 to 16.

They were all individually applauded by those present as they stood, bowed and introduced themselves by taking turns to tell the tale of their extraordinary ordeal.

One of them told his own version of the story about the moment he came to know that a rescuer had arrived.

“It happened in the evening,” one of the team members said at the news conference. “We heard people speaking. We were not sure if it was a hallucination then we went quieter and realized it was real.”

He said that he was not able to believe what he was seeing that a rescuer has emerged from the water.  “It was a miracle,” he added. “It was the first glimpse of hope.”

The only thing that he was thinking of was food as they all were stranded for 10 days.

After they all were brought to the hospital along with coach in the northern town of Chiang Rai. The doctors there pronounced that all of them were generally healthy except some minor infections.

“They are strong physically as well as mentally,” a spokesman told reporters. “Everybody has shown determination to face life in the future.”

They all went into the cave to explore and spent about an hour after the soccer practice on June 23. But after they went inside rainy season downpour made its ways inside the tunnels. As a result, they were all trapped inside it.

They were first discovered on July 2 by two British divers on a mound in a flooded chamber several kilometers deep inside the cave system. After that, rescuers planned to get them out of the caves safely. Some of the tunnels were full with speedy flowing water.

They did not take food along with them because they did not expect that they will get trapped for so long. They were able to manage to quench their thirst by drinking water from stalactites.

One of the rescuer, a Thai Navy SEAL, who died during the operation was grieved upon and a framed photo of him was shown to reporters.

The incident, according to the boys who faced this ordeal, said that they were more determined now to make their dreams come true as professional players and to make the most of their lives.

Their miracle filled dramatic story is going to be produced as a movie very soon with two production companies are taking the step forward to put together the story about the boys and their rescue.

The team members, according to the authorities, took part in “confidence building exercises” before they were released from the hospital.

“They will definitely be able to conduct their normal life,” one health official told journalists. “The doctors and nurses are under more stress than the team.”

The deputy governor of the Chiang Rai province, Passakorn Bunyalak, said that the boys would head for home after the news reporters conference and he also made a special request to their parents and journalists to hold off any type of interviews for the next 30 days.

“At this early stage, we are trying to get media not to bother the boys,” he told Reuters on Tuesday, adding that they were protected by Thailand’s Child Protection Act. The law of Thailand prevents those under 18 from media coverage that would cause emotional injury.

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