The teenage boy fell 20 to 30 feet while on a school trip inside the caves at Tumbling Rock Preserve. His classmates, The sheriff said, were panicked, sprinting out of the cave to alert help.

It was Peerapat Sompeangjai’s birthday the day the boys went into the cave. His worried family kept a constant vigil at the cave entrance, waiting for news. At home, his birthday cake sat uneaten.