Cave diving hero and Adelaide anaesthetist Richard "Harry" Harris, who likes to embrace his "nobody" status, is South Australia's contender to be named the Australian of the Year for 2019.
Dr Harris shot to international fame in July last year when he played a key role in the rescue of 12 young soccer players and their coach from the flooded Chiang Rai cave in Thailand.
Using his medical skills and 30 years of cave diving experience, he was crucial to the successful operation that captured worldwide attention.
Dr Harris was about to leave for a cave-diving holiday when he received the call for help and immediately travelled to Thailand with Perth diving buddy Craig Challen.
Along with other rescue divers, the pair navigated the narrow cave system to assess the health of those trapped, giving the medical all-clear for each evacuee and administering an anaesthetic to help with their rescue.
After the 18-day operation, they were also presented with bravery awards by the federal government as were a group of Australian defence and police specialists.
Dr Harris has continually played down the role he and his dive partner played in the rescue, describing it as an extraordinary international team effort.
He also described a recent newspaper headline, which called the Australians involved "nobodies", as his favourite.
"I think it is a compliment," he said.
Australian Associated Press
