ONE of the heroes who helped save the young football team stranded in a cave in Thailand has been awarded the highest civilian honour for gallantry.

John Volanthen, 47, from Brighton, was given the George Medal for his leading role in the dramatic operation to release the 12 youngsters and their coach in the summer.

The medal was for the “high degree of personal risk” in “exceedingly difficult conditions”.

Mr Volanthen, right, who attended Longhill School in Rottingdean, is one of four Britons involved in the rescue to be awarded the medal.

He travelled to Thailand to save the boys, aged 11 to 16, and their coach after they became trapped by floodwater inside a network of caves.

Mr Volanthen was the first to make contact with them. His citation, which underlined the importance of his actions, said: “Each journey took seven hours through the cave system and divers had to be taught to medically re-sedate the boys during the operation.

“The entire operation was carried out under the threat of monsoon rains and towards the end of the rescue, water levels began to rise, forcing a rapid exit by rescuers. In an operation of unprecedented complexity, all 13 of the trapped people were successfully rescued, in addition to the four divers he rescued on June 28.”