Such a passion has allowed John to accumulate invaluable life lessons, from which he is able to draw knowledge of managing stress, solving complex problems and high-pressure situations to deliver as a motivational speaker.
Highly regarded as one of the best cave divers in the world, John has been at the forefront of some impressive cave rescues. His most notable rescue to date happened in Thailand, the Tham Luang incident. Accompanied by his trusted dive partner Rick Stanton, John navigated two and a half-mile long flooded caves on the hunt for missing children buried deep within a mountain. The pair incredibly completed a mission that even the special forces could not accomplish, locating the missing children and successfully extracting them from the caves. Their heroic feat went viral after a video of their discovery of the children was released online.
John has travelled worldwide, completing impressive feats of endurance and breaking world records. John first set a world-record at Wookey Hole in Somerset, claiming the British cave diving depth record after diving over 90m alongside his diving partner Rick. The record-setting didn’t stop there, John later went on to set a world record for the longest cave penetration dive in the Pozo Azul cave system. Alongside fellow divers Rick Stanton, Rene Houben and Jason Mallinson, they were able to achieve an impressive 8880m.
Throughout his time spent diving John has strived to push limits, developing new equipment that has allowed him to progress where others deemed it impossible. Innovative by nature, John has developed modified rebreather systems and sump mapping devices, technology that have defied the capabilities of traditional equipment. His talents have been pivotal to numerous cave rescue missions, such as the search for Paul Esser during the Gliesion Colliery flooding and for Eric Estable in the Ardeche. After the search for Eric Estable, John was awarded the Royal Humane Society Bronze Medal. His cave diving has earnt several other awards, such as the Scout Associations Bronze Cross in 2018 and the Pride of Britain Award 2018 for his efforts at Tham Luang. During the 2019 New Years Honours, John was awarded a George Medal for the incredible bravery they displayed during the Tham Luang incident.
John has worked alongside a diverse range of multicultural groups, experiencing things that some of us may only dream to experience. His skills gained as a diver have been transferable into everyday life, with John now delivering motivational speeches and workshops on teamwork, innovation, pioneering, resilience, influencing, leading and mental strength.
