A Thai soccer team has been trapped in the cave for two weeks. Some of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped in a mine for 69 days have spoken out about their experiences, providing advice for the young boys. "Hope is the last thing that dies, and now everything depends on the rescuers working to save them and the coach who should motivate them to hang on until they get out of there," one former miner told the Los Angeles Times. Twelve soccer players and their coach have been trapped in the Tham Luang Nang cave in northern Thailand for two weeks. The tribulation, which has been heavily publicized around the world, isn't unlike what 33 Chilean miners experienced in 2010, when they were trapped for 69 days 2,300 feet below ground in a copper mine. Two of those miners told the Los Angeles Times advice they had for the boys, who are aged between 11 and 16. The miners said those who interact with the soccer players should focus on the positive and avoid words or actions that cast them as victims. "They are probably devastated thinking about their families and when they will be rescued, and it’s normal to worry like that," former miner Claudio Acuna, 46, told the Times. "I would tell the boys not to despair, to wait and pray, because God knows what he's doing." Andres Sougarret, the chief engineer in charge of the rescue mission of 33 trapped miners, and Chile's Mining Minister Laurence Golborne smile during a joint press conference at the San Jose Mine near Copiapo, Chileon on Oct. 14, 2010. Natacha Pisarenko/AP Omar Reygadas, 64, who is now a truck driver, also said keeping positive was crucial. "Hope is the last thing that dies, and now everything depends on the rescuers working to save them and the coach who should motivate them to hang on until they get out of there," Reygadas told the Times. "They shouldn't worry about crying or being scared." Nearly a decade later, both men told the Times they continue to struggle with the mental aftermath of their 69 days trapped in the mine. Acuna said he sees himself in the mine when he closes his eyes, and Reygadas said he feels depressed and suffers from dizziness. Mario Sepulveda, another miner, shared his own "message of hope" for the young men in a video published by The Guardian. "I have no doubt that if the government of the country puts in everything and makes all possible efforts, this rescue will be successful," Sepulveda said in the video. "We are praying for each of you, for each of the families, and for these children."<doc-sep>(CNN) — In 2010, Dr. Jean Christophe Romagnoli, a sports medicine specialist, designed a training program to help 33 Chilean miners survive the ordeal of being trapped for 69 days, and Alberto Iturra Benavides, a psychologist, provided crisis counseling. The doctors have followed the attempt to rescue the Wild Boar soccer team, which has been trapped in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system in northern Thailand since June 23. Divers found the team and their coach on Monday. At least one plan to rescue the boys involves teaching them how to scuba dive. The two Chilean doctors shared the insight they gained from the rescue of the miners. The interviews, conducted over the phone and over email, have been condensed and edited. How do you protect the team’s mental health through this ordeal, which may last months? Romagnoli: That’s the most difficult part. They’re not prepared for confined environments. The thing about the miners that’s different is that they were a crew of people that were used to working in confined places. So, claustrophobia or any kind of social phobia could be triggered by the sense of reduced space, or even a panic attack. They [the players] work in a team sport so they usually have strong teamwork. So, maybe that could be a key factor to cope with the impact. Benavides: We need to understand that for them, this is an adventure, perhaps one of the most important ones of their lives. In that context, everything will be made easy, entertaining and tolerable for them. Within this delicate situation it’s necessary for them to keep up a happy and playful personality and thus the rescue team will do well to not add graveness, seriousness, anger or judgment to the problems that arise. The kids don’t need to know about the challenges the adults and the country are going through. They just need to know that they are loved and that they have permission from adults and that they are on vacation. Do not rule out possibilities without analyzing and testing them. This is another powerful lesson we had in our situation. It helps to keep up the spirits of the families, collaborators and the country when they feel that they can positively contribute. Krit Phromsakla Na Sakolnakorn/AFP/Getty Images British cave-diver Robert Charles Harper explores an opening in the mountain in the rescue operation. What kinds of needs might they have now, mentally or emotionally, compared to after their rescue? Romagnoli: In the case of the miners’ experience, the basic problem was the uncertainty of [being] rescued. They were found but they were not sure they were going to be rescued alive, at least until two days before the rescue itself. So, this uncertainty builds up anxiety and this uncertainty can be disastrous, if it’s not well managed. The thing they need the most is stability and some type of certainty to be part of a plan, of a rescue plan. I’m not worried that much about the psychological aspect because they were found. They know there are two types of solutions or at least two scenarios they’re working around. Benavides: It’s valuable for them to be occupied and have tasks to be responsible for within their group – small chores, like … taking inventory of what has arrived, telling or making up a story with a happy ending; having a set schedule with activities … leading each other in song; reading out loud to the group and going through the story with different, successive participants, leading the others in prayer. All of this should be on a rotating basis so that they can be enriched through different roles without any single one marking or defining their future. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Thai soldiers relay electric cable deep in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system. Is the team’s youth an advantage or disadvantage in this situation? Romagnoli: I think it’s an advantage in certain ways. The physiological response of a younger being probably will be better than the miners themselves. The mental strength of the miners is higher because they’re used to confined spaces. They won’t panic that easily. Benavides: The kids’ age is an advantage, and one must take care of the coach’s leadership. Showing him respect will help keep the peace and lower tension for the kids and will lead to a positive resilience, one without traumatic elements after this event. Sakchai Lalit/AP Thai soldiers carry hoses and additional water pumps during the search for the soccer team. What are the differences and similarities between the ordeal of the soccer team and Chilean miners? Romagnoli: It’s kind of the same ordeal. The only difference is their age. The miners [also] had a variety of chronic diseases, such as hypertension and diabetes. The kids shouldn’t be presenting those type of diseases. Those types of diseases usually appear in [the] mid-30s. The Chilean miners’ rescue didn’t have changing conditions, whereas the Thailand cave does, primarily in water levels and breathable air spaces. Benavides: If you look for similarities [between the Chilean miners and these children], you will find that they found themselves alone having suffered many losses: communication, contact, safety, food, and all sorts of comforts. Nonetheless, in both cases, they decided to live and stay united. Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP/Getty Images Workers fix the road leading to the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system after the team was found alive. Read: 9 days of hell: Inside the race to save a soccer team trapped in a cave What insight did you glean from working with the miners that could be applied to this situation? Romagnoli: You have to work with real conditions. Everyone in the medical world is always looking to work in laboratory conditions and ideal conditions. So, you have to change your way of thinking. You have to focus on the specific conditions of that particular scenario. What applies to another scenario might not apply to that one. It was a team effort from all around the world. That’s the secret of the Chilean mining success. Benavides: Do not give them things that separate them. They should listen to music as a group – no headphones, just speakers. We had a large crisis due to someone who, acting out of good will, sent down individual audio equipment. It led to disinterest and disunity in our case.<doc-sep>If anyone knows what the boys trapped for 12 days in a Thai cave are going through, it is the Chilean miners whose 69-day ordeal similarly gripped the attention of the world back in 2010. Now, one of those 33 miners has issued a message of support and encouragement to the 12 boys and their football coach trapped in Chiang Rai. Mario Sepulveda, wearing a mining hat and tweeting under the handle @SuperMarioChile, posted the video on Twitter in which he said he had “no doubt” the operation to save the boys would be a success. Recommended Thai boys given crash course in diving to prepare for hazardous rescue "I would like to send greetings and a lot of strength to the authorities and the families of these 12 children," said Mr Sepulveda. "I have no doubt that if the government of that country puts in everything and makes all the humanly possibly efforts, this rescue will be successful. May God bless you!" Mr Sepulveda and the rest of his mining crew spent more than two months about 625 meters (2,050 feet) underground after their copper and gold mine caved in on 5 August 2010. There are a number of similarities between their situation and the Thai boys’. For the first 17 days after the cave-in, the miners were uncontactable and their families feared the worst. The boys in Thailand, aged 11 to 16, went to explore the Tham Luang Nang Non cave complex after playing football on 23 June. They were not seen for nine days until two British volunteer divers located them on Monday night. One mother said she had felt it was no more than a “50 per cent” chance her son would be alive. After rescuers found the Chilean miners, using a bore hole the width of a grapefruit, they were passed food and water through the shaft for some time while an extraction plan was devised. Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Show all 100 1 /100 Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The 12 boys and their coach in the cave REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures A rescue team stands in the entrance to the cave AP Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures A relative shows a picture of the boys after they were found on 2 July AFP/Getty Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thai military inside the cave complex EPA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The 12 boys and their soccer coach who were rescued from a flooded cave arrive for a news conference in the northern province of Chiang Rai, Thailand, REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave play soccer REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The young footballers and their coach appeared healthy when they appeared before the media for the first time since the rescue AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures EPA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Coach Ekapol Chantawong REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The 12 rescued members of the Wild Boar soccer team are greeted by their classmates on a mini soccer pitch EPA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescued Thai football coach Ekkapol Chantawong together with 12 children pays tribute to Thai navy diver, Samarn Kunan, who died whilst attempting to rescue the boys AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Twelve young footballers and their coach rescued from a Thai caves being treated in hospital EPA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescued soccer team members posing with a sketch of the Thai Navy SEAL diver who died while trying to rescue them AP Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Players writing messages on a drawing of former Navy SEAL diver Saman Kunan who died during attempts to rescue them AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescued "Wild Boars" football team members (top row L to R) Adul Sam-on, 14, Ekkarat Wongsukchan, 14, Phipat Photi, 15, Chanin Wiboonrungrueang, 11, (middle row L to R) Pornchai Khamluang, 16, Duangphet Promthep, 13, Peerapat Sompiengjai, 16, Sompong Jaiwong, 13, (bottom row L to R) Mongkol Boonpiem, 13, Prachak Sutham, 14, Nutthawut Thakamsong, 14, and Phanumas Saengdee, 13, recovering at the hospital in Chiang Rai province AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The life vest belonging to Duangpetch Promthep, the rescued captain of the "Wild Boars", REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Divers from the rescue mission, from left to right: Chris Jewell, Mike Clayton, Rick Stanton, Lance-corporal Connor Rae, Josh Bratchley, Gary Mitchell and Jim Way who helped to save 12 schoolboys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand, speak to media after arriving back at London's Heathrow Airport PA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Volunteers gather for a ceremony before the clean up operation at the Tham Luang cave AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures The last four Thai Navy SEALs come out safely after completing the rescue mission inside a cave where 12 boys and their soccer coach have been trapped since June 23, in Mae Sai, Chiang Rai province, northern Thailand. Thailand's navy SEALs say all 12 boys and their soccer coach have been rescued from a flooded cave in far northern Thailand, ending an ordeal that lasted more than two weeks. Royal Thai Navy/AP Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures People celebrate AP Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures A woman lifts her child near the hospital, seen at left, as ambulance transporting members of the children's football team arrives AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Volunteers react after hearing all boys were rescued REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Onlookers at the junction in front of Chiangrai Prachanukroh Hospital watch and cheer Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Journalists celebrate after a news conferenc REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures An ambulance, reportedly carrying members of the rescued football team, arrives at a hospital AFP/Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thai Navy divers in the Tham Luang cave Thai Navy SEAL via Getty Images Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Rescue personnel work at the Tham Luang cave REUTERS Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thai media listen Chiang Rai province acting Gov. Narongsak Osatanakorn AP Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Police and military personnel use umbrellas to cover a stretcher near a helicopter and an ambulance at a military airport in Chiang Rai as rescue operations continue for those still trapped inside the cave in Khun Nam Nang Non Forest Park in the Mae Sai district. Four boys among the group of 13 trapped in a flooded Thai cave for more than a fortnight were rescued on July 8 after surviving a treacherous escape, raising hopes elite divers would also save the others soon AFP/Getty Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thai military medical personnel walking inside a restricted area as preparations are made to transport rescued boys from Tham Luang cave to a hospital EPA Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Thai authorities placing a rescued boy in an ambulance EPA/Chiang Rai Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures Paramedics, believed to be carrying a boy who has been evacuated after being trapped inside a flooded cave, approach a helicopter in Chiang Rai Chiang Rai Tourist Police via Reuters Thailand cave rescue operation: in pictures This frame grab from video tweeted by Elon Musk shows a "tiny kid-sized submarine" being tested in a pool at Palisades Charter High School, in California. Musk's Space X rocket company tested the submarine that could potentially help rescue the remaining children and their coach trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.<doc-sep>
Over 1,000 people are reportedly involved in the rescue efforts It was a Thursday afternoon nearly eight years ago when Omar Reygadas heard the explosion that would seal him and 32 others inside a mine in the Atacama Desert in Chile. He wouldn't see the light of day again for 69 days. Reygadas, a 64-year-old widower, was the 17th miner lifted out of the 2,300-foot-deep refuge in a dramatic rescue effort that captured the attention of the world. Now, he is watching from Chile as international experts race to free a team of 12 boys and their assistant soccer coach from a flooded cave complex in northern Thailand. "It's terrible for them - they're little - but I believe that boys with a lot of strength are going to manage to be whole when they get out," Reygadas told The Associated Press. While he said that it is difficult for him to provide any advice, he encouraged the boys to focus on "reuniting with their families." "They shouldn't be ashamed to be scared," he added to the AP. "Because we were scared, too. Our tears also ran. Even as adult men, we cried." "My advice is to be firm. . . . I want them to know that being scared is normal. We were also scared, we also shed tears." Mario Sepulveda, another Chilean miner who developed the nickname "Super Mario" in 2010 as the dynamic spokesman on the videos sent up from below, also sent his support. "I have no doubt that if the government of this country puts in everything it can . . . this rescue will be successful," he said to Agence France-Presse in a video message. "We are praying for each of you." The team of Thai boys, ranging in age from 11 to 16, were exploring a six-mile-long cave 12 days ago with their assistant coach when the water level rose, trapping them in one of the chambers in the complex. In the two weeks since their disappearance, the effort to find, and now rescue, the group has drawn the attention of communities across the globe. More than 1,000 people from various countries are reportedly involved in the rescue efforts, and even more have volunteered to help. After saying on Twitter that he is " happy to help, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Friday confirmed that engineers from two of his companies, Space X and Boring, would be headed to the town of Mae Sai in northern Thailand to help the rescue team on the ground. Space X develops and manufactures spacecraft, while Boring is an infrastructure construction company that "has advanced ground penetrating radar & is pretty good at digging holes," Musk tweeted. The Thai government posted a image of Musk's tweet on Facebook, adding that the American engineers would arrive on Saturday to help with the rescue. "He may provide services for location tracking, water pumping or battery power," the government wrote. Earlier Friday, Musk said it be worth trying to "insert a 1m diameter nylon tube (or shorter set of tubes for most difficult sections) through cave network & inflate with air like a bouncy castle." Portuguese soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo told reporters at a FIFA event this week that "the world of football hopes that someone can find a way to take these kids out of there," CNN reported. Bear Grylls, the British adventurer and television host behind survival series "Man vs. Wild," has also weighed in. "So proud of you Jon Volanthen helping orchestrate this rescue - and no surprise you are a Scout volunteer Leader!" he tweeted, referring to one of the two British divers who first discovered the group. "We are here for you if you need any extra help," Grylls added. Others have expressed their support over social media, with many pitching ideas on how to extract the boys. Some suggest building a "small capsule" or "mini-submarine" while others, like Musk, have floated the idea of inserting an inflatable tube into the cave that will allow the group to crawl out. So far, however, the rescue team in Mae Sai has focused on searching for alternative entrances, pumping water out of the cave complex and teaching the boys how to dive.