THAI rescue diver Dr Richard Harris was named the South Australian of the Year on Friday night for his involvement in the resuce of 12 trapped boys and a football coach in Thailand in July.
Dr Harris received the honour, which was met with a standing ovation from the large crowd at the ceremony at the Adelaide Oval.
With 30 years of experience in cave diving, qualified anaesthetist Dr Harris played a major role in the Thailand rescue earlier this year.
He swam through the narrow cave system to assess the health of those trapped, giving the medical all-clear for each evacuee and administering an anaesthetic to each of them within the cave to facilitate their rescue.
He was the last person to leave the cave following the successful sump rescue.
Dr Harris was described as “showing character, determination and courage and staying until the last person was safe”.
At the ceremony on Friday, Harris said it was an overwhelming honour to be recognised by his home state.
“I’m fiercely proud to be a South Australian, so to get this award from this state is an honour,” Dr Harris said.
“I was just going about my two passions, cave diving and medicine – they have grown in parallel since my early 20s.
“I have really enjoyed that path – it seems bizarre they combined for an event like the one in Thailand.”
Across the border, close friend Craig Challen was awarded West Australia’s Australian of the Year for his involvement in the rescue.
Both men recently visited the Limestone Coast to share their experience with other divers when they conducted a rescue course at Pines Cave.
Mr Challen told The Border Watch the knowledge they had gained should be passed on.
“We try and pass on as much we can – there are no secrets about what we have been involved in,” Mr Challen said.
“It is such a rare event to have a rescue, so you try to capture any bit of knowledge you can that might be useful in the future and we are really keen to share that knowledge with other people.”
The award winners from each state will come together for the national awards on January 26 in Canberra.
