This is a modern English hero. His name is Vernon Unsworth and he was awarded the MBE medal for what he did in northern Thailand in the summer of 2018.
You may recall that back then twelve Thai boys and the assistant coach of their football team became trapped by rising waters in the Tham Luang cave system. Their lives were in danger but they had not drowned. They were trapped in an air pocket far from the entrance. It took the efforts of hundreds of people to extract them from their predicament.
Key to the rescue effort was Vernon Unsworth who lived in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand with his Thai girlfriend Woranan Ratrawiphukkun. For many years, Vernon had been a caver, exploring cave systems both in Great Britain and in South East Asia. He knew the Tham Luang system better than anybody and had spent many hours mapping the labyrinth with its complicated twists and turns, its flooded and its dry zones.
I have been into pot holes in Derbyshire myself and I have a sense of their character - little galleries you have to squeeze along on your belly or your back, twisting left or right or up and down. It's not easy and I found it all pretty claustrophobic.
The boys entered the cave system on June 23rd and it wasn't until July 10th that they all got out though one former Thai Navy Seal died during the rescue operation. His name was Saman Kunan.
Someone else who got involved was Elon Musk. He offered to get the boys out with a submarine that was quickly developed for the challenge. However, what he and his team came up with was totally inappropriate. It was inflexible and had an unreliable air supply. It plainly would not work and Vernon Unsworth and other members of the British cave rescue team said so describing the submarine idea as a publicity stunt. It might have worked when tested in a Californian swimming pool but it would be useless in a natural cave system.
Musk was piqued and angry about the dismissal of his ill-considered plan. Consequently, he referred to Vern Unsworth as "that pedo guy" and also called him a "child rapist" without evidence to back up the claim.
Later Vernon Unsworth bravely attempted to sue Musk for defamation but of course Musk was able to buy the services of fancy lawyers to fight the case and he won. Apparently, in spite of his court victory, Musk did apologise privately to Vernon Unsworth. He was just jesting - apparently using the kind of harmless slur that schoolboys use in South Africa.
In his entire life, Vernon Unsworth had never previously been accused of paedophilia and there is no record of him ever interfering with children. Musk just made it up to dirty the man's character in a hurtful and unjustifiable manner. Maybe Musk realised that the submarine idea was crazy but he got mad about the rejection anyway.
This is the kind of bloke Musk is. He only really cares about himself and his agenda. He is megalomaniacal. I wish he could be made to spend a week or two on his own in the Tham Luang cave system without his smartphone or any other opportunity to tweet his endless spoilt schoolboy messages on "X".
Even then Leon Skum [anagrammed] was a vile egotistical pig.
ReplyDeleteIt was a sign of things to come. Instead of basking in the glory he had earned for playing a leading part in the cave rescue, Vernon found himself fighting for his reputation against an ultra-rich bully. Skum's people even paid for the services of a private investigator to dig for dirt which they never found.
DeleteAnd now he is my country's pseudo president. It's a draw as to what's worse - Musk rule or Trump rule. I wish I could be come across the pond!
ReplyDeleteIf you have to flee America, we will shelter you for a while Dianne.
DeleteI remember the trapped bys and the rescue and the relief I felt when they were all safe.
ReplyDeleteI'd prefer to NOT remember a single thing about the "Lone Skum" but he is in the news too often for that.
Why does the main media report Skum's utterances? It would be better to blank him out.
DeleteI watched a movie based on that rescue and it was chilling. I don't remember the part about Elon Musk. His submarine may have been so absurd that it wasn't included. Just the fact that he has joined forces with DT is proof that he is a scummy human being, not worth the dirt he walks on.
ReplyDeleteJust because Skum made mountains of money doesn't mean he's wise. After all, self-indulgently he called one of his kids "X Æ A-Xii". What an awful burden for the kid to carry!
DeleteHats off to Vernon Unsworth!
ReplyDeleteI can only dimly remember what was happening in Thailand in 2018, as to be honest I was focusing (as usual) on my personal bubble: Turning 50, having a major eye operation that put me off work for six weeks, followed by a rather stressful period at work catching up with a big project and other tasks.
We forgive you for being distracted in the summer of 2018!
DeleteNice work by Bob to finish off your damning post about that creature. It is hard to imagine how he got away with saying what he did, and I don't think he would here or in your country.
ReplyDeleteVernon Unsworth even said that Skum's cruel slur put him off going to Buckingham Palace to collect his MBE medal. The best day of his life was dirtied by a big-headed tosser.
DeleteDid you watch the video of Ian Hislop talking about Musk which Thelma posted on her North Stoke blog? Do if you didn't.
ReplyDeleteI did watch that video. Ian Hislop can be very astute when it comes to politicians and other public figures.
DeleteI vaguely remember the cave events in Thailand. To sully the good name of a caring man who saved so many lives under almost impossible odds shows just how flawed the Skum character is (excellent anagram of his surname). The megalomaniac thinks he's God. There is no reasoning with anyone so totally self-absorbed.
ReplyDeleteNo reasoning. What he needs is a good slapping with a wet haddock. "Now stick that on X you ****ing Boer!"
DeleteI remember that well. Musk is a nasty bully, isn't he? Just look at all his posts on Twitter calling people retards, for god sake's. Every day is a mess here, between Musk and Trump, and Johnson. I would flee to Ireland but do not have the funds (I don't think) required to be let in the door....
ReplyDeleteOver in Ireland you may still sometimes see tinkers - rather like gipsies. They are not part of normal society - real outsiders. They sleep by hedgerows in the summer or tumbledown barns in the wintertime. You could join them Elle.
DeleteMusk is all too ready to criticise other countries or slur other people. Instead he should take a long hard look at his own behaviour and reputation.
ReplyDeleteMusk named one of his alleged twelve children X Æ A-Xii. This fact alone speaks volumes about his narcissism.
Delete