Who would Eric Brown like to play him in the movie?

The Langley-raised man who gained international attention as one of the divers who took part in the Thai cave rescue of a teen soccer team and their coach laughs at the question

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think IB次元官网网址檒l have a character. I think IB次元官网网址檒l be support worker number four,B次元官网网址� he chuckled.

Brown has been contacted by one producer already and knows of about five companies with projects in the works to retell the incredible tale.

B次元官网网址淭hey donB次元官网网址檛 really have to embellish,B次元官网网址� he told the Langley Advance. B次元官网网址淚f they stick to what happened, they donB次元官网网址檛 have to Hollywoodize it.B次元官网网址�

Brown was in Langley visiting family for the B.C. Day long weekend before jetting off for an interview in Montreal. He sat down with his hometown newspaper to talk about the rescue and the swirl of national and international media attention during and since the rescue.

The Advance found out BrownB次元官网网址檚 hometown connections through a Tweet from someone local who recognized that the 36-year-old had graduated from D.W. Poppy Secondary.

[Story continues below video]

When Brown learned about the soccer team trapped in the cave, he contacted a friend who was at the rescue and offered help.

HeB次元官网网址檚 one of about half a dozen international divers in the area trained in deep water and cave rescue, and was invited to the scene.

The mission began June 23 when the boys didnB次元官网网址檛 return home. On June 24, rescue teams found the bags and sandals of the boys deep within the caves that started flooding.

On June 25, officials start pumping water out of the caves but had still not reached the boys.

The teen boys and their coach were trapped for days underground before the first rescuers got to them on July 2. The next day Thai Navy SEALs took food, fresh water and blankets to the boys and provided the first photos to their families and the world.

Starting Sunday, July 8, 18 divers entered the caves and 11 hours later emerged with the first of four boys. Four more were extracted Monday, July 9, with the rest safely brought out Tuesday, July 10. The world watched the rescue unfold over several days.

Divers first strung ropes through the caves to help those underwater navigate in the near zero visibility through the miles-long cave system that took hours to get through. Then crews started ferrying items in and out of the cave system. Brown explained, for example, that in addition to the two tanks he needed for himself, he would take in four to six air tanks strapped to his lower body.

B次元官网网址淲e had seen dry maps of the cave,B次元官网网址� Brown explained. B次元官网网址淎 lot of people were pretty confident, who had been inside, the way that the contour was that [the team] could find a spot that would sustain them for enough time. How much time that really was, IB次元官网网址檓 not sure. I think it was definitely pushing it eight, nine, 10 days.B次元官网网址�

Three pumps were trying to lower the water level in the cave system that has been flooded by a monsoon.

When the time came to start bringing out the boys, divers were stationed along the route. Brown was positioned couple hours into the cave. There were tank changes and figures moving past him in near zero visibility, a slow and time-consuming operation.

B次元官网网址淪o youB次元官网网址檙e not really sure how successful it is to be honest, you know. It was successful up to me but they still had two hours to get [out] to where the U.S. and Thai medical teams were.B次元官网网址�

The divers along the cave system couldnB次元官网网址檛 get updates while underwater.

B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 the hardest part,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got to wait another three hours, swim yourself back out then pop your head up.B次元官网网址�

Those on the surface would hold up the number of fingers to show divers how many kids were out safely.

Though not a religious man, Brown said someone was watching out for those boys.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 something out there. There has to be after something like this,B次元官网网址� he commented.

Brown is not surprised that the soccer team coach, a former monk, has returned to his faith and the boys went into a Buddhist monastery after getting out of hospital to become novice monks.

Rescue diving is not new for Brown.

He is part of a group of divers trained in deep diving and more extreme situations such as cave rescue.

In the approximately half a dozen times heB次元官网网址檚 been called upon to help in such situations, itB次元官网网址檚 typically not a fairy-tale ending.

B次元官网网址淣inety per cent of the stuff that I go out on unfortunately on these occasions is [body recovery],B次元官网网址� Brown said.

World traveller

Brown owns Hydronauts Dive Centre on a Thai island, where he provides diving for the tourist trade. Before that he was in Egypt for seven years and travelled around a lot before that.

B次元官网网址淵ou work a lot harder than you think living on a tropical island,B次元官网网址� he joked.

Diving and owning his dive business wasnB次元官网网址檛 on the radar when he was growing up in Langley.

His mom, Dorothy, worked for Air Canada for many years, and his parents would take him and his brother, Kirk, around the world, experiences that gave him a taste for water.

B次元官网网址淎ll of my friends are surfers,B次元官网网址� but a shoulder injury took him out of that scene. Brown still wanted to stay in the water and found diving.

He learned cave diving mostly in Mexico and returns there annually.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 some pretty remote places that are kind of hard to get to but also come with a nice big price tag,B次元官网网址� he said.

There are still places in the world he plans to check out. The wrecks of the Great Lakes appeal to him.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not really a fish and coral type person. IB次元官网网址檓 more of a cave and wrecks type,B次元官网网址� Brown explained.

Next year, heB次元官网网址檒l likely get a chance to check out cave diving in France. A French dive shop has invited all the rescuers for a free weekend so thereB次元官网网址檚 talk of making it a bit of a reunion.