Diver who helped save Thai soccer team rescued from Tennessee cave

A diver who helped save a youth soccer team from a flooded cave in Thailand last year has himself been rescued from a cave in Tennessee.

Josh Bratchley had been missing for nearly 28 hours when he was found Wednesday night and pulled from the Mill Pond cave in Jackson County by what NBC News calls a "veteran rescue diver," according to a New York Daily News report.

Josh Bratchley [File Photo: Facebook]

Bratchley was checked out at the scene, but said he was fine and declined medical treatment.

"As soon as I saw him, all he said was, 'thank you, thank you, who are you?'" the New York Daily News quoted rescuer Ed Sorenson as saying. "I was really surprised to see him, and not shivering, not panicked, not screaming, just as calm as we all are right now."

Bratchley was part a team of British divers who were exploring the cave system. Members called 911 after they found Bratchley missing and searched for him in vain.

Cave rescue specialist Lt. Brian Krebs who helped in the rescue said Bratchley was largely responsible for saving his own life, saying that because he'd been in the cave the day before, he knew where crucial air pockets were, according to NBC News.

Both Sorenson and Krebs were expecting the worst but were relieved that it turned out to be a successful rescue instead of a recovery mission.

NBC News reported Derek Woolbright, spokesman for the Jackson County Emergency Management Agency, as saying Bratchley had only one request when he emerged from the water Wednesday night: "He wanted some pizza."

Bratchley was part of a British team that rescued 12 soccer players and their coach from a flooded cave in Thailand.

(Story includes material sourced from AP.)