When a parent has a healthy smiling 11-year old that they love and guide and one day learns that their child is missing deep somewhere inside a mountain, perhaps dying of hunger or suffocating from a lack of oxygen, or perhaps impossible to rescue, a darkness descends on the soul.
And when such parents learn their child has been found but that rescue may be impossible, that oxygen levels are depleting, that monsoon rains that caused the nightmare to begin with, are starting again, a primal instinct takes over all adults involved.
To see how people come together to figure a way out of the predicament that has a potential for fatal consequences on both sides, both rescuer, and rescuee, this is a story of human survival against the odds.
It becomes gripping as it takes over our most basic emotions. Because it’s not simply a straight walk into a cave, it is an almost impossible path to rescue and yet here we see these hero divers and support people come together and achieve the impossible.
I think this must also be a visual story. I’m guessing that those that get TV news are seeing a lot of video, artists conceptions (I heard about the water level and shape of the caves) and other visual information increasing the drama.
Since I see none of that, and it’s halfway around the world, it just has a much smaller impact on me, so it is less of a news story for me, personally.
Now, if it turns out the cave is leaking radioactive material that could make its way to Puget Sound, where my daughter lives, I’m gonna be more interested.