Richard William Stanton, (born 1961) is a British civilian

cave diver Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the search for and recovery of divers or, as in the 2018 Thai cave rescue, other ...

who specialises in rescues through the Cave Rescue Organisation and the

British Cave Rescue Council Recreational caving in the United Kingdom dates back to the mid-19th century. The four major caving areas of the United Kingdom are North Yorkshire, South Wales, Derbyshire, and the Mendips. Minor areas include Devon, North Wales, and the Scottish ...

. He has been called "one of the world's most accomplished cave-divers", "the face of British cave diving," and "the best cave diver in Europe". Stanton has lived in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

for many years, and was formerly a

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

with the West Midlands Fire Service for 25 years prior to his retirement. In 2018 he played a leading role in the Tham Luang cave rescue and was awarded the

George Medal The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically ...

in the Civilian Gallantry List.

Early life

Stanton was born in 1961 and grew up in

Epping Forest District Epping Forest District is a local government district in Essex, England. It is named after the ancient woodland of Epping Forest, a large part of which lies within the district. The district covers northeastern parts of the urban area of London ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He attributes his interest in cave diving to a television programme he watched as a teenager, '' The Underground Eiger'', saying, "After watching it, I just knew that cave-diving was for me." Stanton studied at

Aston University Aston University (abbreviated as ''Aston'' for post-nominals) is a public university situated in the city centre of Birmingham, England. Aston began as the Birmingham Municipal Technical School in 1895, evolving into the UK's first College of a ...

, where he joined both the caving and the diving clubs. He began as a self-taught diver in the

River Lune The River Lune (archaically sometimes Loyne) is a river in length in Cumbria and Lancashire, England. Etymology Several elucidations for the origin of the name ''Lune'' exist. Firstly, it may be that the name is Brittonic languages, Brittonic ...

in Cumbria and Lancashire. Stanton has lived in

for many years, and was formerly a

with the West Midlands Fire Service for 25 years prior to his retirement.

Caving and rescues

Rescues

Stanton usually cave dives and conducts rescues with a partner, John Volanthen. In 2004 he was involved in the rescue of six British cavers who were trapped in a cave at the Alpazat caverns in Mexico for eight days. Stanton was also part of a team that attempted a cave rescue of Eric Establie, in the Dragonnière Gaud Cave near Labastide-de-Virac in the

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019. In 2011, Stanton assisted in the recovery of the body of Polish cave diver Artur Kozłowski from Pollonora cave at Kiltartan, Ireland. Norwegian authorities asked him to assist to recover the bodies of two Finnish divers from Jordbrugrotta in 2014, but after diving down to the site he and his colleagues deemed the operation too risky. He had completed another recovery there in 2006. In 2018, he helped locate a youth football team in the Tham Luang cave rescue. After locating and participating in the rescue of the missing team and its coach, Stanton said that he and the other cave divers involved were not heroes, saying, "We’re just using a very unique skill set, which we normally use for our own interest and sometimes we’re able to use that to give something back to the community." Stanton later said: "I think I hold great pride in what we did. You could say it’s justification for the dedication I put forward into a ridiculous minority sport that no one ever took seriously."

Records

In 2004 Stanton and Volanthen set a world record for greatest depth achieved in a British cave, cave diving at Wookey Hole in

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. In 2010 Stanton, Volanthen, Jason Mallinson, and René Houben set a world record for longest cave penetration dive, obtaining in the Pozo Azul cave system in the Rudrón Valley in Spain.

Equipment

Stanton is a technical diver, developing his own diving gear to great effect. He developed two closed-circuit

rebreather A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantial unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. Oxygen is a ...

units; this novel technology has been "instrumental in his achieving cave diving depth records around the world." One modification was to allow the rebreather to be worn on the side of the body rather than the chest or back. This is advantageous in fitting through smaller spaces. He builds prototypes of his designs and tests them in swimming pools before using them in caves. He also uses underwater scooters to dive more efficiently, travelling greater distances while conserving energy and oxygen supplies.

Bibliography

* ''Aquanaut: A Life Beneath the Surface - The Inside Story of the Thai Cave Rescue.'' 2021. Michael Joseph

Awards and honours

Stanton has been called "one of the world's most accomplished cave-divers", "the face of British cave diving," and "the best cave diver in Europe". In 2008 Stanton received the EUROTEK "Diver of the Conference Award" for his "significant contribution to advanced and technical diving." Stanton's rescue attempt of a diver in a French cave, and assistance in identifying the location of that diver's body, earned him the

Royal Humane Society The Royal Humane Society is a British charity which promotes lifesaving intervention. It was founded in 1774 as the ''Society for the Recovery of Persons Apparently Drowned'', for the purpose of rendering first aid in cases of near drowning. Hi ...

's bronze medal in 2012. In 2021 Stanton also received the 'Hero of the Year' award at the West Midland Fire Service's Aspire Awards. Stanton was appointed a

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, "For services to Local Government". In November 2018, Stanton and five other members of the British cave rescue team were given the 2018 Pride of Britain Award for "Outstanding Bravery" for the Tham Luang incident. The rescued children attended the award ceremony, in London. On 28 December 2018 it was announced that Stanton and Volanthen would receive the

in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for their roles at Tham Luang. Three other members of their team were appointed MBEs and two were awarded the

Queen's Gallantry Medal The King's Gallantry Medal (KGM), formerly the Queen's Gallantry Medal (QGM), is a United Kingdom decoration awarded for exemplary acts of courage, bravery where the services were not so outstanding as to merit the George Medal, but above the l ...

. On 21 November 2021 explorer Mark Wood, Chairman of the Great Britain and Ireland Explorers Club Chapter, awarded Stanton a chapter coin in recognition of the role he played in the 2018 Thai cave rescue.

Personal life

Stanton lives in

References

External links

* : ''Into the Darkness'', a documentary of Stanton and John Volanthen's cave dive in northern Italy {{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Richard British cavers Cave diving explorers English underwater divers Members of the Order of the British Empire Living people Alumni of Aston University 1961 births British firefighters Recipients of the George Medal Pioneering technical divers People from Epping Forest District Tham Luang cave rescue