JAY: Sit.
NARRATOR: Selection for the SAS...
..is a test like no other.
ANT: The celebrity recruits are used to comfort and luxuries.
If you don't surrender yourself to the course,
you will suffer an anguish like you've never experienced before.
ANT (SHOUTING): Get down. Get down.
Try and fight it and it will (BLEEP) you up.
A new group of celebrity recruits... STAFF: Wake up!
..have volunteered to put their privileged lives behind.
ANT: Move, get on that train.
CASSIE: I want to leave the name 'Cocaine Cassie' behind me.
They'll be put through a tougher...
(SHOUTS) Get over here.
..more intense selection course than ever before.
Do not (BLEEP) this up.
Let's go!
Dive!
Chief instructor Ant Middleton... Let's go!
..and his team of directing staff will make no exceptions.
Keep hanging.
Staff, I can't.
Staff... (ABBEY SCREAMS)
Are you trying to pull the wool over my (BLEEP) eyes?
Move!
A sickening submerged pipeline...
..almost ends in disaster.
Turn on your back.
What the (BLEEP) are you doing?
No, no, no!
Do you think if I hadn't had dragged you out,
you wouldn't be a (BLEEP) dead man?
And...
Go!
..a leap of faith...
Hurry up, let's move.
Move it, move it!
..takes a heavy toll.
Let's go! Get down here!
(GRUNTING)
And Thai cave rescue hero tells his story.
Nobody really thought that it was likely to be a rescue.
A rescue.
If we didn't, they were all going to die.
In the cold, pre-dawn of the Middle Eastern Desert,
13 recruits have survived the first 24 hours
of the punishing SAS selection course.
(RECRUIT SNORES)
STAZ: Wake up!
Tick-tock!
Hurry the (BLEEP) up.
I am the original bachelor
and in my society there's a certain level
of wanting to look a certain way.
I wash my face and my moisturise and I dye my hair, dye my beard,
I use a scrub a couple times a week.
I take pride in the way I look.
I woke up at 2:00 and I was like this is too much sleep.
I only got to sleep at about 2:30 I think it was.
Did you? Yeah.
On the course, it's not meant to be comfortable.
This is going to be quite the challenge for me.
Bit (BLEEP) smelly.
ABBEY: Hello. (CHUCKLES)
I'm a sports broadcaster in the world of AFL
but I think SAS, it's so different
to anything that I would have ever experienced or heard of before.
I don't think there's anything awkward anymore.
Well, I haven't done a poo yet
so I'm like this is my first experience.
With none of the creature comforts from home...
..the recruits must get accustomed to rudimentary facilities.
All of our little butts go on these holes. (LAUGHS)
And they're quite far back from the edge too.
Yes, I'm little, my legs are dangling off the edge
when I'm sitting on this.
I feel like a 13-year-old child.
I am an Australian actress
and most people would know me because of 'Neighbours'.
I wanna prove that I'm gonna be good on the SAS course
but I think my height will affect me 'cause I'm five-foot-tall.
Zima, you can't even touch the ground.
(LAUGHTER) No, I can't.
Her little legs are hanging.
I don't like that I'm five-foot-tall
because like I'm out here trying a lot harder than a lot of people.
Like I gotta take like three, four steps
compared to your two steps.
It's hard.
It probably looks like there's no one in here
so it would be kind of awkward if one of the guys comes over
and looks through the sides.
I don't want people looking at my vagina.
How is anybody gonna see your vagina when you're sat down?
They can still kinda see it.
How high up is your vagina?
Like at my belly button, how high is your vagina?
CASSIE: Breakfast guys.
As duty recruit, convicted drug smuggler Cassie
must serve all the recruits before herself.
Avo on toast here we come.
I'm top-five middle-distance runner in the world.
I want the public to see me as more than just a runner,
more than just an Olympian
and I want the public to see me in a different light.
Not just my doping scandal and I'm here for the challenge.
Yes. Imagine.
Imagine... A little poached egg.
The recruits file in to share the meagre rations available.
Can I grab an egg as well? Yep.
Thank you.
These eggs aren't going down well.
No, it's hard, they're hard to get down.
It's important to put everyone
through some level of discomfort and pain on selection.
Trying to operate when you're fatigued,
when you've not eaten hardly any food
and we're trying to get rid of the weakest.
Putting them through this level of discomfort and pain
filters that out.
A little bit of salt and pepper, you know, usually goes nicely.
Yeah.
I come from the royal family in Bali.
Oh, god.
I have no idea what I'm doing here.
I did not sleep. I'm going to be useless today.
You didn't sleep?
Not even, not even an hour.
What? Nope.
I'm a complete fish out of water.
I can't go to sleep without like a podcast
and then I've got like whale sounds
and then I've got like a machine that purifies the air
and then I've got like an eye mask.
Everyone was snoring so loud.
It was the worst.
I didn't even know they were.
Oh, it was like a (BLEEP) musical bloody trump...
Really? Yeah.
Well, maybe I was asleep at that point.
Then that's good.
Deep down I'm just a massive Karen to the core.
I think that's why today's probably the day
that a lot of people will crack.
(ALL AGREEING)
STAFF: Into your allocated vehicle, go!
Spring! Move!
All of you sprint! Move it!
Hurry up.
Heading to their first brutal task on day two.
Come on, get in there.
The recruits race through the desert
to be faced with a test designed to push them to the brink of panic.
Everything in this course is designed to test your character.
We expose you for who you are.
Especially your emotions and your fears.
It's going to be overwhelming for them.
RADIO: I have your release.
All clear for take-off.
We have everything we need to operate and function
in modern-day warfare in the desert.
This is special forces operations.
We spent years training for this...
..and it is all about taking charge of your mind.
Out of the wagons. Get out!
Or everybody will (BLEEP) suffer. Get out.
We don't allow fear to enter.
Bergens on, quick as you can let's go.
The seat won't go down.
What the (BLEEP) are you doing?
We push it to one side.
(BLEEP) Jason Bourne in the back.
Because if you don't...
Hurry up! ..panic is like a plague.
Go, move!
And in an uncontrolled situation,
it can be the difference between life and death.
(BIRDS CHIRP)
Alright, listen in.
Stop there.
I want one rank between that rock and that rock facing me.
Do that now.
Hurry up, move!
Quick as you can, let's go!
Take your bergens off.
Turn around and watch the demo.
Pay attention.
Attention to detail.
As the formidably Blackhawk takes lift,
the recruits observe as chief instructor Ant
demonstrates a highly dangerous SAS drill
known as the Run and Jump Extraction.
(BLEEP).
Without safety equipment,
each recruit must plunge into the cold water.
The run and jump to the Blackhawk
is where you're in a hostile environment,
you've got an important piece of equipment on you
that needs extracting.
It's a one-off, get this right or you're not going home mission.
Fighting the gale force down-draft of the rotor blades
and the choppy water,
they'll need to make a perilous 10m climb up the rope,
keeping panic at bay.
Special forces operators
constantly put ourselves in these fearful situations...
..to control that panic
because if they don't,
in a combat zone on the battlefield they're (BLEEP).
Everyone take your jackets off,
put your numbers on your upper left arm.
Once you've done that sit on your bergens.
I'm afraid of heights.
Probably the worst-case scenario
is throwing you off the helicopter into the ocean.
That would stress me out.
Is that water not deep?
Yeah, I couldn't even tell you
that I've ever been on a roller coaster or anything.
Unknown situations scare the hell out of me.
Right, who wants to come on down?
Yes, Staff.
Good effort, number one.
After an anxious, panicked introduction to the course,
number one, convicted drug smuggler, Cassie,
will need nerves of steel to pass the task.
By doing SAS, I'm just proving to myself
that I am capable of whatever is thrown at me.
Are you OK? Yes, Staff.
Think you can do it?
I'll give it my best shot, Staff.
Alright, let's see a good effort, OK?
It's the only way people will get a real version of me
because I'm not Cocaine Cassie.
Stand by.
Go!
Hurry up, let's move.
Go! Go, go!
Alright, let's go.
Needing to exit the cold water,
number one must quickly swim to the rope.
Come on!
Hurry up!
Come on!
Let's go!
Come on, let's go! (GRUNTING)
Let's go!
Making her way up the rope, number one strains to climb further.
I don't want to give up
but I'm always going to have that little voice in the back of my head
that I wasn't good enough...
..because of everything that happened to me in Columbia.
She's going to blow out.
ANT: What are you doing?
What's going through your (BLEEP) head?
God almighty.
That was tough.
Unable to ascend to the Blackhawk,
number one must swim to shore having failed the task.
Recruit number eight. Yes, Staff.
You're going to lead by example.
Let's go.
Well over six feet tall and weighing 102kg,
number eight, retired NRL star Boyd,
is by far the heaviest recruit
attempting to haul his massive frame into the Blackhawk.
I want to see some (BLEEP) Tom Cruise shit from you.
Down to the DS, go!
In 2020 I retired from concussions.
I still suffer symptoms now
especially with the constant headaches
and the light-headedness sometimes
and all sensitivity to the light and the noise.
When the Heli's here, I'll release you.
Yes, Staff. OK, ready?
Yep.
Take a knee.
So going into this course if I am worried about one thing,
it will probably be if my body can hold up.
Go!
I think this is just going to be a real good test for myself
and trying to get to the end.
(BOYD CRIES OUT)
(BOYD SCREAMS IN PAIN)
It's quite a scary thought when you think about
the thing that might stop me from completing the course
is my old body breaking down.
Hurry up.
What happened?
I tore me pec. You tore your pec?
Yeah.
Alright I'll get someone to come have a look.
With a suspected pectoral tear,
Chief Medic, Doctor Dan, needs to assess the injury.
When I jumped on the rope and swung off it
and she's (BLEEP) pulled, aye.
Take your jacket off.
I know you just got warm but I wanna have a bit of a look.
Yeah, so that's definitely well attached there.
Yeah. And do it on this side.
Yeah mate, I reckon that's come away.
I'll have a yarn to the DS,
let 'em know what's going on and we'll make a plan.
Thanks, doc.
With such a painful injury,
number eight's future on the course looks uncertain.
If I had to quit or if I had to take that armband off
I'd definitely feel like I'd probably have failed for sure.
Hobbit.
Yes, Staff. Come on down.
Barely five feet tall, number two, actress Zima Anderson,
hopes to be the first to succeed where all others have failed.
This is like a (BLEEP) scene out of 'The Lord of the Rings'.
Remember Frodo Baggins?
Yes. This is (BLEEP) Mordor.
For us vertically challenged folk... Yes.
..we have to work a bit harder than everybody else, don't we?
We do, Staff.
Well, pack a big (BLEEP) punch.
Down to the DS, off you go.
Stand there, face me.
I think people's first impressions of me,
they're gonna think that I'm not capable of doing physical tasks.
Go!
I want to prove to myself that I am strong
and I will commit to whatever is thrown at me on the course.
Come on!
Let's go!
Come on, let's go!
Go on.
(PANTING)
Being an actress I definitely have had a lot of bad opinions on me.
So I always get judged straight away
and I started to really feel that, that was who I was as a person.
Let's go!
Come on!
I'm sure there will be things throughout the course
that will challenge me, 100%.
What are you doing?
And I will want to go to a dark place you can't come back.
Come on!
On the coastal edge of the desert,
the recruits are locked in a gruelling test of agility,
needing to scale a 10m rope from the cold water
into the safety of the Blackhawk.
Come on, let's go!
Number two, actress Zima Anderson...
Come on, let's go!
..attempts to be the first recruit to climb on board the chopper.
Go on.
(GRUNTING)
Being an actress, I always get judged straight away
and I started to really feel that, that was who I was as a person.
But I ground myself in who I am and my morals
and how my loved ones see me.
I want to show people that you can be strong
and you can be sensitive.
Whoa, she's getting up.
Up here!
Straight through the access point, let's go.
Yes!
She's a little pocket rocket, Zima.
Good effort.
Number two is the first to conquer the task.
That was brilliant. You actually just proved to everyone
it doesn't matter how tall you are, you can smash that.
I'm strong, Staff. I know, I can see that.
Once it's shown that it can be (BLEEP) done,
everyone can (BLEEP) do it.
Let's go number 12.
Let's go.
Already struggling to cope with the rigours of the course,
number 12, Balinese princess, Lindy Klim,
must summon all her courage.
People probably know me from Being Michael Klim's ex-wife.
When my marriage broke down,
I guess I did have those feelings of failing.
I failed as a wife, I failed the children as their mum
and I think that, that potentially
is where this whole not feeling good enough might come from.
On your knees.
So I'm already doubting myself by sitting here.
I'm terrified to go on this show so potentially, you know,
if I can do just like a little bit of it,
it might give me that confidence to believe in myself more.
Go! Go!
ANT: Keep moving!
Let's go, come on!
That's it, come on!
What are you doing?
Come on!
What the (BLEEP) are you doing?
There are some moments where I'm like this is just way too much.
I'll just have to quit.
Blackhawk run and jump is about the pressure of a timed extraction.
Go!
It's imperative that they get into that helicopter
as quickly, as efficiently and as safely as possible.
This is a difficult climb.
(GRUNTING)
And they'll need to push through the pain and the suffering...
(ABBEY GRUNTS)
(CRAIG GROANS)
When everything is screaming, telling you to stop.
Stand up!
(GROANS IN PAIN)
It requires upper body strength, technique...
Like a rat up a drain pipe.
Yeah.
More importantly, strength of mind.
ANT: Lock your arms off.
Good! Good!
That's brilliant.
Yes!
Get in here! Get in here!
Sit!
Well done!
Get behind me, behind!
Here, hold on.
Good effort, well done.
So frustrating.
So hard to get up that rope.
Big guy, your (BLEEP) life depends on it.
Get on that (BLEEP) helicopter.
Yes, Staff. Yeah?
Only four of the previous 12 have passed
and last to attempt the task is the oldest recruit,
at 57 years, actor Craig McLachlan.
Stand there, turn and face me.
Talk about panic.
On that morning of 8 January, 2018...
(BLEEP) make this number nine, yeah?
Go!
..I woke up the phone's ringing.
The news was everywhere.
"He's a monster, he's a bully, he's a calculated predator."
It's too easy to ruin your life like that.
Go! Go!
ANT: Keep moving. You're behind enemy lines.
You need to get the (BLEEP) out of here.
Come on!
At the time these allegations were broadcast,
where I ultimately found myself was in the darkest place imaginable.
Making sure you don't jump off a balcony.
I was sadly...
..contemplating the unimaginable
and I made a decision to do something
and I'll just say that in my haste a miscalculation
basically meant that I...
..I managed to get up out of bed that next day
and keep soldiering on.
(GRUNTING)
Let's go!
Quick! Quick!
(GRUNTING) Get in!
Go go go.
Good!
Arm there.
One more.
Good, yes, get in here.
Sit down.
Well done, sit up!
Exhausted, Craig reaches the chopper and passes the task.
Right, listen in, pin your ears back.
What we've just done is (BLEEP) hardcore.
Those of you here, (BLEEP) well done.
Strong.
Those of you at the back, like (BLEEP) salmons
and royally (BLEEP) up.
We've chucked you in at the deep end and it's only going to get deeper.
Right, jump up, put your bergens on.
Hurry up!
Go, move!
Let's go!
Get your heads in the game, keep your heads up.
A terrifying tunnel of water.
(BLEEP), turn around!
What are you doing diving in like a (BLEEP) headless chicken?
And a dramatic rescue.
(BLEEP) maniac.
I'm sending (BLEEP) team in there to come and get you.
Yes, Staff. Because you're a (BLEEP) dead man!
And later...
I didn't know what the next head knock would bring.
..Boyd's painful past.
Everything I've sort done is because of her
and to make her proud.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC)
In the desert outpost,
the recruits recover from the morning's demanding task.
Oh, it's nice and warm against here.
I just want to go, I'm just done.
Physically I'm not strong.
Like, I know I'm not.
I'm weak in my arms, I can't run.
I'm not built to be a soldier.
I'm still not getting warm.
I wonder if my stuff's dry.
It's just completely way off how I live.
My life.
If I change my undies then I have to take my shoes off.
Yes, you will.
What do you need to change?
Nah. Just 'cause I feel gross.
I just think the worst thing you can do
is put on fresh underpants
and then have both pairs dirty and...
Right, yeah.
OK.
If I was to be standing there in wet clothing, I'm just done.
I'm just... That's it.
While Lindy struggles...
..the DS meet to analyse the recruits
and evaluate their commitment to the course.
The jump and climb up to the helicopter.
That was a hard task.
Extremely hard task.
And number one,
to say that she failed that is hard to leave my mouth.
She was dog-determined to get up that rope.
Hmm.
That was the epitome of resilience for me.
She is mentally strong, she was just physically done.
Number two jumped in, shhh, up that rope,
straight into the helicopter, not phased and away she went.
The only female to complete.
Not only the only female but the shortest.
Yes.
Number ten, like a rat up a drain pipe, wasn't he?
Yeah. He was, he was.
Yeah, he was strong. Wasn't even out of breath.
Number 13 has started to shine through
in a positive light.
I'd give him an A.
Yeah, I think he's been good.
He is good, yeah.
Number 14.
He's a strong lad, no problem up the rope.
Number nine, cor, what a turn-up for the books?
He's strong, he's obviously strong.
Strong.
Mentally, physically, he is strong.
The determination on number nine's face,
he was digging out blind, putting 110%.
Well, he's actually here for the right reasons.
Yeah, yeah. Number eight.
Big boy.
Injured himself jumping on the rope
and then couldn't complete the climb.
So that was probably top of the (BLEEP) today.
Of all the people on that course... Yeah, that shocked me.
..I wasn't expecting that.
He's got all the capabilities
and every, everything to do well on a course like this.
Yeah, I've got to say I'm disappointed.
Let's bring him in.
Number eight.
Yo.
With an injury cloud hanging over him
and his place in the course uncertain,
the DS have called the retired NRL star in for questioning.
Number eight.
Boyd.
At 16 Boyd makes his NRL debut.
16! That's impressive.
Yeah.
You know I am my own worst critic
and I definitely know when I haven't done something right
and I tend to beat myself up sometimes about it.
Turn around.
I think it's just that, that performance anxiety
with the pressure that I've put on myself
to do a good job for your teammates.
"Boyd is one of the greatest leaders of men I have seen,"
said the Roosters coach.
"Australian captain retired from rugby league
"as concussion takes toll."
Oh, shit.
I wonder where his head's at with that.
Step up.
Right there.
Sit.
You alright number eight?
Been better, Staff.
(BLEEP) painful day today you've had.
It's yeah, it's disappointing.
I see that you started playing elite sport at the age of 16.
Yeah, so I moved to Sydney,
to play the Sydney Roosters NRL team
and yeah, sort of got thrown into the deep end straight away
and ended up having a pretty successful career
so it's something that you know, being retired
now looking back on that I'm pretty proud of.
How old were you when you retired?
Two years ago, 28.
Oh, recent! Yeah.
I've had countless injuries since I was a kid...
Injuries?
..and then late in my career just went through a rough trot
with concussion, ended up, through that year
where I retired I had a string of about three together pretty close
and then started to suffer some pretty bad headaches.
Dealing with the symptoms of concussions.
I had days there where I'd break down crying
and it just being in the media a lot,
nearly every day at that time and everyone knowing your business
and it just was, yeah, it was all a bit too much for me.
I was the captain, captain of my club,
state and country at that time
so that was probably the toughest time mentally
that I had to go through.
Yeah. Captain of your team.
Yeah. Your state.
Yeah. Of your country.
Yeah, so...
And you were forced to retire?
Yeah, well at the end of the day it was my decision and...
Well, I mean, you say it was your decision
but (BLEEP) your hand was forced there.
I didn't know what the next head knock would bring.
It's quite a scary thought when you think about
the long-term effects that concussion
or TBIs, traumatic brain injuries could have.
Were you just scared that they would go onto, go onto memory loss,
onto Alzheimer's? Yeah.
Is that a big thing with the concussion?
I think it is, isn't it? TBI, yeah.
Yeah. Definitely.
I had to put everything into perspective
and work out my priorities moving forward long term, long term.
Memories are everything.
I think they're the things that you hold onto the most
and they essentially make up who you are as a person.
You know having them memories to hold onto are priceless.
Speak to me about your childhood.
Umm.
I had a great childhood.
And I say great upbringing.
It didn't start out great,
I lost my mum to breast cancer when I was four years old.
Um...
Do you remember much?
At that age, it's sort of, you know,
I don't really have too many memories of her
which is probably the worst thing.
From when I was four, around that time come home
and run up to her and jump on bed with her
when yeah, she wasn't doing too well and yeah.
It's not the greatest memory
but yeah, it's something that I'll hold onto forever so...
(BLEEP) me.
But yeah it's not until, you get a bit older
and you look back on your, your childhood
and you think as good as it was,
you know, you think how different it would be
if, you know, she was there
or she, you know, still was there guiding me or there to be a mum.
I lost my mum as well.
Mmm, sorry, mate. When I was 11.
(BLEEP) it's a difficult time
because I still to this day probably haven't processed that properly.
Mmm. Correctly.
I almost didn't want to speak about losing my mum.
Yeah. I thought it was just taboo.
You know I had an older brother
and we just didn't (BLEEP) speak about it
and still to this day you don't really speak about it.
Yeah.
You know you'd change everything to go back and to have Mum back
but I've been very blessed with the best loving family
that I could have asked for.
And why are you on this course?
I wanted to test myself again.
Physically I feel like I've been OK.
Obviously...
You are, you...
..not, not today but being removed from that
competitive arena I've sort of,
you know I haven't had anything to work towards
and I thought this was a really good opportunity
to try and, you know, scratch that itch
and give it a red-hot crack.
Well, keep going until you know that you can't go anymore.
Yes, Staff. OK?
Guard!
Keep going.
You'll know when. Yeah.
Being retired from rugby league now
I haven't had anything really to look forward to.
I know you're in pain big fella.
I'm gonna do my best. Yeah, good on you.
It's day two of SAS selection
and the precious downtime is a chance to delve into life
away from the course.
What's the hardest thing you've done?
I got involved in the Thai cave rescue
four-and-a-half years ago.
That was an unexpected turn in my life.
Wow.
We were hoping for the best.
I never expected it to turn out as well as it did
and to have a 100% success rate
and get all of them out alive even as I sit here today
I still can't really believe that it worked out that well.
For us, it was just like normal and then not normal.
A cool little barracks though isn't it?
Yeah.
As far as barracks go.
(LAUGHTER)
Camp conditions have been an unwanted reminder
of Cassie's time spent in a Columbian prison.
What was jail like,
like in terms of, was it big or small or?
It's huge. Was it?
We were 25,000 women.
(GASPS)
What? That's insane.
In, split into nine different yards.
Three of them were, high security profiles.
When I arrived at the women's prison...
..I was terrified...
..and I didn't know how I was going to survive there.
At one point, we would have between six to nine people
in a two by two cell.
Six to nine? Yeah.
So, did you just rotate who got the beds?
No.
It was pretty much first in best dressed.
I was picked on quite a lot for just being the new foreigner
and you don't get a good reputation being a foreigner
in those sorts of prisons.
I was almost sure that someone would kill me there.
I was standing in line,
I'd literally been there like three days,
standing in line to go get food
and this girl's come up behind me
and she shoved two like homemade knives
into the back of my arms,
and it was almost like this split reaction of ow,
kind of what happened?
And by the time I kind of reacted she was there,
she grabbed my head and she slammed it into the wall.
And I...
She knocked me out. Oh, my god.
Her name was Chilli.
She actually had holes on the side of her mouth
where she'd cut it open with razor blades...
..umm, and she'd hide razor blades inside her cheeks in her tongue.
She really intimidated anybody who'd go in there.
And from there like she tried to break my wrist,
tried to break my ankle.
Oh, my god.
Until I was moved to a high security patio.
Oh, my gosh.
Oh, you poor thing.
When I was in prison,
it was a whole different level of stress.
It's...
..probably one of the worst nightmares you could imagine.
How you going, man?
Yeah, I'm alright. All good.
Did you, did you literally tear your pec?
Yeah I think it's like pretty bad.
Oh, my god. But I don't know.
We'll just wait and see how... Fingers crossed.
You (BLEEP) looked like The Rock out there though.
Oh. Woo-hoo!
Number eight!
Sustaining a painful injury in the task,
retired NRL star, Boyd Cordner,
is summoned to chief medic Doctor Dan,
to learn the extent of the damage.
Grab a seat on the edge of the bed there, mate.
Yeah, sweet.
Can you get your shirt off? Are you able to...
Yeah.
So you're a bit, a bit limited with your...
Just with my, I can, like, get my arm up.
Alright, so your arm goes up.
Can come out but it just can't go back
like if that stretches anymore.
Yep.
What's happened today is the most common way that a pec will tear.
It's going to need surgery.
That's not something that needs to happen today
or tomorrow or this week
but it does need to happen in a timely fashion.
Is there still, like, a chance that I can do more damage in there?
There is.
Now when one's pulled away and it's already fatigued and damaged,
it makes it more likely you're going to pull the other one away.
The risk you run now is to, is to do more damage.
My biggest failure in life,
would be not finishing my NRL career,
the way I would have liked to, it being cut short with injuries.
What would worsen it would be another sudden impact
or repeated push ups or... Yeah.
..any of those sort of activities.
Every day you wake up and you have something to look forward to
and for that to just be removed
it's something that I've struggled with a fair bit.
My obligation as a doctor... Yes.
..I need to advise you to come off the course, mate.
Yep.
My only worry was my body letting me down
'cause it has so many times before in my career.
But to be clear this is me medically withdrawing you from the course,
this isn't you withdrawing from the course.
Sweet, mate.
Thanks, doc.
(BLEEP).
Sorry, mate.
Oh, listen don't be sorry.
That's the last thing I want you to be is sorry.
(SIGHS)
Because I know that you wanted to crack on,
I know that you wanted to get through but if you carry on,
especially in the next couple of days,
sheer pride is going to really, really injure you
and potentially (BLEEP) rip the rest of that off.
Yeah.
Yeah, definitely take a lot of lessons out of this, Staff.
Your character is (BLEEP) impeccable.
You're an honourable person.
Appreciate that, Staff.
What I'm going to do, I'm going to take your number off.
Cool.
Because I know you don't want to do it.
Yeah, no drama, mate.
Oh, shit. She doesn't want to leave me.
Listen it's been an absolute pleasure honestly.
Lovely meeting you, mate.
You too. Ta.
Staff!
What do you two want?
Recruit number 12 would like to...
OK, you can go away, number one. Thank you.
Number 12, what are you doing?
I would like to give in my badge please.
Are you sure? 100%.
Positive? Positive.
Alright number 12, you know what to do.
The moment I finished the course,
I'm hoping just to be so proud of myself.
Alright listen, a lot of people don't even last the first day,
so hold your head up high, OK? I will.
OK. Thanks.
I did think that I would really struggle
being completely out of my comfort zone.
Thanks. Bye.
Alright, doll.
I hate being dirty and I hate sand and I hate camping.
I feel quite chuffed that I managed to get through two days
so, yeah, I feel good.
(COUGHS) Ah.
A traumatic test of fear...
Listen in. ..sends Cassie into panic.
Right, get into the water. Hurry up.
Get into the water. No. No.
Please. You can touch the ground.
I don't want to continue.
(THEME SONG)
OLLIE: Come on, get in there.
Stay in two ranks.
Hurry up. Sprinting to me, let's move.
In the hot and arid middle eastern desert,
the recruits trek to their second training task of day two.
Sprint. Move!
All of you sprint!
A terrifying test of fear
where only those with the strongest mental resolve will prevail.
Keep the (BLEEP) noise down, you've run about (BLEEP) 100m.
Get in here.
Put it behind, grab your bergen number one.
Stop feeling sorry for yourself.
I'm not feeling sorry for myself, Staff.
Stop it.
If you're going to (BLEEP) collapse do it quietly number one.
Listen in very carefully to this task.
Panic.
Psychological, emotional (BLEEP) reaction,
isn't it?
Then it becomes a physical reaction but it starts here.
In Afghanistan, when the enemy aren't there,
guess where they are hiding?
In caving systems,
in (BLEEP) little rat runs, in pipelines.
They use them as escape routes thinking that we won't go there.
This whole team has experienced that.
That's where DS Staz won his award going down a (BLEEP) little rat run
taking out the enemy 'cause they thought,
"You know what, they're not coming after us."
Uh-uh. Wrong.
We're (BLEEP) special forces. You go anywhere.
It takes a complete mindset to calm yourself down,
assess the situation at hand and to get through it.
Buried in the sand is a claustrophobic 30m network
of underground pipeline.
The first section, a tunnel so tight,
the recruits will fight to squeeze their bodies through.
The second section...
..a dreadful submerged tunnel of filthy water...
..where the recruits must fight the fear of drowning,
pass through
and find vital air pockets to breathe.
To pass, clear communication with the DS is needed throughout,
while remaining calm
and navigating to safety at the end of the pipeline.
Submerged pipeline is a test of fear.
A test of claustrophobia, a test of panic.
To push you beyond your psychological limits.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
If you start to panic,
you will lose all control of your body,
therefore, you will get stuck and something bad will follow.
Fact.
Whether that's a serious injury,
that's (BLEEP) drowning, whether that's your life.
Confined spaces, water,
confined spaces in water is what scares me.
My palms are sweaty already even thinking about this.
In panic situations, I...
I feel that I instantly freeze
and I'm not sure where to go.
Why's everyone looking at me? (CHUCKLES)
If you can't work it out just stop and be calm,
feel your way around.
If you can't see, if it's dark in there,
sometimes helps, if you're not used to it
to just close your eyes.
Number ten!
Right, you do exactly as I say.
Arms out.
Olympic runner number ten, Peter Bol...
You gonna stick with me.
..is called to enter the frightening pipeline.
There's been several times in my life where I've panicked.
As an athlete, it's never a good morning when,
when someone knocks on your door to try drug test you.
And when they sat down there and said, and said,
"You tested positive."
Like, shit. Like, this is quite serious.
I mean, your career is over here.
Move it.
Kneel.
Listen in!
Alright, number ten, compose yourself.
Get in the water.
Get in the water, hurry up! Hurry up!
Right.
Get here, listen in, get here.
Listen in, compose yourself.
Compose yourself.
You're going to be moving through a series of pipelines.
I do not know what's in the way.
I know that it starts here.
I do not know where it ends.
What I want you to do once you breach the water,
you knock three times to let me know you're OK
and that the mission is on. Do you understand?
Yes, Staff.
Move through it accordingly,
move through it fast and efficiently.
Go.
What worries me most about being in an extended period of time
in the water is sinking and not making it out.
That's, that's a big fear.
Let's go number ten. Keep moving.
Fighting against panic,
number ten forgets to knock to alert the DS of his position.
I didn't hear him knock, did you?
When I'm scared, my body goes in shock.
My brain shuts off and almost can't think.
Reaching the start of the next section,
number ten needs to make sure he's face up
to breathe in the air pocket.
Right.
No, no, no!
(BLEEP) turn around.
What are you (BLEEP) doing?
What are you doing?
Turn on your back!
(BLEEP) turn around!
Turn around!
Not sensing the danger,
he's now precariously face down in the water.
Alright, lift it out, lift it up.
Lift this up. Lift this up.
Lift this up. Lift it up.
Oi, turn around, oi, you (BLEEP) maniac.
What the (BLEEP) are you doing? Listen to me.
What the (BLEEP) are you doing?
Get up. Get out.
Move here!
Listen to me.
That's why you've got (BLEEP) snot and (BLEEP) vomit
coming out of your mouth.
Because you can't (BLEEP) breathe because you're panicking.
Panicking!
Do you think if I didn't had dragged you out,
you wouldn't be unconscious in that water right now?
(BLEEP) dead in there right now.
You're a (BLEEP) dead man.
Now (BLEEP) off to the DS. Move.
Move.
(BLEEP) maniac.
(SLOW MIDDLE EASTERN MUSIC)
Cass.
You alright?
I don't like being in enclosed, dark areas.
'Cause it just triggers me back to prison.
JAY: Number one.
To the dark, gloomy area.
No sunlight and you just see walls.
Just nice deep breaths.
We're not going to run anywhere, OK?
Just being so scared, so terrorised,
fearing for my life every day.
I was living in hell.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
Panic for me is shutting down.
Just going quiet.
Start switching on that headspace of yours
which I know that you've got.
Kneel down.
And it's scary, it's debilitating.
Listen in.
Right, get into the water.
Hurry up, get into the water.
No, no, you can touch the ground. You can touch the ground.
I don't want to continue.
Look at me. Look at me.
You don't want to continue? Look at me, look at me.
No. OK, OK.
Listen, look at me.
This is all about mental strength, OK?
I know you've been waiting
for a mental (BLEEP) strength task come up.
Well, this is it.
This is your bag, this is where you shine.
Mental resilience, mental strength.
This is where you come out on top.
You know you can get into that water.
That's the first commitment.
Get in the water.
Alright.
Listen very carefully, OK?
Just listen in, just listen in.
The next commitment phase is the entry to the pipeline.
Do you want to commit?
In a panic inducing task
navigating a submerged network of pipeline...
..number one must overcome her traumatic past
and paralysing fear to enter the murky water.
The next commitment phase is the entry to the pipeline.
Do you want to commit?
No, Staff.
Are you sure?
I'm 100% sure.
100% sure you don't want to try and commit to that?
Yes, Staff.
Give me your number, number one.
Get out.
Just over here.
Number one, listen to me.
That is you now officially off the course, OK?
Well done for committing to that.
That's what you've got to do in life, commit stage by stage.
Next time you come across this you'll know what it feels like
to get into the water, to be there.
You can use that to your advantage, can't you?
Yes, Staff.
Stop living in the (BLEEP) past, OK?
You don't belong there. Look at me, look at me.
You do not, listen, it's OK, listen.
You do not belong there.
You don't belong there.
All this 'Cocaine Cassie' bullshit, it's doesn't (BLEEP) suit you.
It's not you.
Take what you can from this experience.
Use it to your, your advantage.
No one else's.
OK? Well done.
Thank you.
Alright. Go over to the DS.
Unable to commit to the task,
Cassie is the third recruit to voluntarily withdraw from the course.
(EXHALES)
(GUN SHOT)
JAY: Number 11.
It's a little jog.
Next to face the pipeline
is Olympic gold swimmer, Stephanie Rice.
Come on.
Winning three gold medals at the Beijing Olympics
was the best thing that ever happened to me
and the media attention that came from that was so positive.
I was the golden girl of swimming, I could do no wrong.
Like, I was just somebody that was so adored in the public space.
Overnight that completely shifted.
That tweet in 2009 definitely changed my life.
I obviously lost sponsorship deals, I lost money, I lost opportunities.
And knowing that I had affected people in that deep way
was the hardest part for me.
Right, kneel down.
Listen in.
Right get into the (BLEEP) water, get into the water!
Hurry up!
Right, come here.
Listen in.
You're going to be moving through a series of pipelines.
I need you to move as fast and efficiently as you can
from A to B.
This is where you will enter.
When you're ready.
Keep moving. Hurry up.
Time is not on our side.
Hurry up number 11.
I've worked so hard to rebuild from that.
15 years ago, that situation showed me who I am
but in terms of my ability to be strong, being resilient.
Alright, that's one done.
Think about this one.
Pushing through struggle and adversity
absolutely, I am that type of fighter.
Alright, watch your head.
Let's go, let's go.
Let's go.
Hurry up. Hurry up.
In front of me here.
Get down.
How many knocks did you give me? Three.
Well done. Go to the DS.
Move, move number 11. Move.
Number 11 is the first recruit to complete the task.
Get in the (BLEEP) water, get in the water!
Wait, wait, wait! Stop!
(BLEEP) maniac.
I said get in the water you (BLEEP) idiot.
Exposing yourself to panic is conditioning the mind.
(ANTHONY GRUNTS)
Understanding that emotion, understanding that feeling.
Go on, get in the water! Move!
(HEAVY BREATHING) Breathe.
Repeating the process so you can take charge of it
because initially, it will take charge of you.
Alright, watch your head.
Turn around, get out. Go.
Let's go.
(HEAVY BREATHING)
What are you doing?
Get back.
You start to panic, everything will go downhill
and (BLEEP) rapidly.
Where was the air pocket
when you dived in (BLEEP) head first?
Where was it? Where was it?
(BLEEP) above you wasn't it? Yes, Staff.
That's why you couldn't (BLEEP) talk.
That's why you were (BLEEP) choking!
That's why you nearly (BLEEP) drowned in there!
JAY: Seven, get over here.
With vastly more experience
in tight, submerged tunnels than anyone on the course,
Thai cave rescue hero, Craig Challen,
is last to enter the pipeline.
The most important things for being a cave diver,
you need to have a pretty cool head.
You're undoubtedly going to find yourself in a few sticky situations.
When you're confronted with the unknown,
you can curl up in a ball and suck your thumb
and assume the foetal position or you can look at it
and deal with it rationally and confront it.
The most important thing is to avoid panic.
OLLIE: On your knees.
'Cause panic is absolute death.
Listen in.
Right. Listen, get into the water.
Get into the water!
Right. Get in.
Get in. Listen in.
Listen in.
Right, you're going to move through a series of pipelines.
Gather your breath.
How you move through that pipeline is completely down to you.
It starts here.
I don't know where it ends.
Move!
Yep, keep moving.
It's a pretty tough gig going into the cave
on that first day of the rescue.
Got very tight and we could only just squeeze through with,
with rock on our chest and rock on our back.
And you think to yourself that by the end of the day,
we might have turned some of these kids into corpses
and be dragging them out of the cave in body bags
and that does weigh pretty heavily on your shoulders.
Let's go.
Number seven, time is not on your side.
Think about how you're going to position yourself.
Alright let's go.
What are you doing?
Turn on your back!
Get on your back.
Despite his qualifications,
number seven makes the fatal mistake of going face down in the tunnel.
Number seven!
Right.
What are you (BLEEP) doing?
What are you doing?
(BLEEP) diving in there head first,
where's the (BLEEP) air gap?
Where is it?
You should know better than this, where is it?
At the top.
So why are you (BLEEP) diving in headfirst?
Get out.
Go. Move.
(BLEEP) disappointed in you.
(BLEEP) sake.
Did you think you had your (BLEEP) dive set on?
Did you?
(BLEEP) hell, out of all of the recruits,
I expected you to (BLEEP) absolutely smash this.
What are you doing diving in like a (BLEEP) headless chicken
when the air pocket is above you?
No wonder you came out (BLEEP) drowning.
Well guess what?
We got to send a team in after you now...
..which you know all about.
Yes, Staff.
This is your (BLEEP) bag right here.
You've gone and (BLEEP) it up.
Well done.
(BLEEP) off to the DS. Move.
Move!
Number seven, move.
Having withdrawn from the course,
Cassie prepares to leave the camp.
It is probably one of the first times in a long time
that I feel proud of myself, in the sense of facing everything
that I didn't want to ever see again.
When I leave the SAS course, 'Cocaine Cassie' dies there.
She, that's it.
She doesn't follow me around anymore.
See you guys.
I am...
I'm just Cassie.
But I'm the Cassie that's gone through a lot.
I've come out the other side a lot stronger
with a lot of resilience
and I just hope to be able to prove everyone wrong.
See you 'Cocaine Cassie'.
(BLEEP) shit day today you've had.
The inside story of the cave rescue.
We all thought this was going to be a recovery.
Nobody really thought that it was likely to be a rescue.
A rescue.
If we didn't, they were all going to die.
As the sun drops
and the desert temperature plummets to single digits
the recruits adapt to the primitive camp conditions.
I'll just half stand under it while you do it.
I'll just hold it for you.
This is good, Tim. Sure is cold.
How's your arm? The handle fell off.
(LAUGHTER)
Number seven.
What?
After his shock failure in the task,
the DS want to grill number seven on his mindset.
Number seven was a maniac,
he dived in (BLEEP) fully submerged
pipeline head first and he realised that wasn't a good thing to do.
Yeah, I know.
You think he'd know what to do.
STAZ: To there.
Sit down.
(BLEEP) shit day today you've had.
I was like, wow, especially with you.
Yep.
I think we can probably put that down to a world champion
missed opportunity.
When did you get the call to go to Thailand?
So after the boys had been found
I got a call to come up from Australia and help out.
We knew that 12 kids and their coach
had gone into this cave and disappeared
when a flood happened.
And up until that time we all thought
this is going to be a recovery.
Nobody really thought that it was likely to be a rescue.
A rescue.
'Cause that never happens, you know?
There's, there's lot of recoveries from caves and there's...
..not, not from flooded caves.
'Cause it's, it's very few rescues.
But if we didn't they were all going to die.
Mmm-hmm.
That was absolutely certain.
There's no way they could stay in there and survive.
It was going to be months and months until the cave dried out again.
There were a lot of things stacked against us.
The conditions inside the cave were very difficult.
Very high flow because of the amount of water
that was coming out of the cave.
You couldn't see anything at all really,
the water's full of silt and mud.
How, how wide was it?
There were some restrictions in there
where you could just squeeze through,
so we dived side mounts with cylinders by our side,
rather than on our back.
You can just squeeze through with rock on your chest
and rock on your back
but we had these little people to bring out...
Mmm-hmm. ..and, who we were told
these kids didn't even know how to swim
and we've got to get them out.
For these kids to have this scuba gear put on them,
have their heads put under water
where they wouldn't be able to see anything.
If they panicked underwater, that would be the end of them.
So we anaesthetized these kids to bring them out.
So that was, that was the plan was to anaesthetize them?
That's the most radical part, yeah, to, to anaesthetize someone
and then stick their head under water for three hours, that's...
And they're out of it are they?
..yep, yeah. Completely asleep, yeah.
So they're asleep and then,
so you're in full control of them are you?
Oh, yeah. Totally.
You dive with them? So how are you diving with them?
Full face mask.
How did you hold them? How did you...
Generally carried them under the, like on your chest.
So as, as you were swimming they would be on your chest?
They'd be there, yeah.
Just, 'cause that was the best way to protect them
'cause you're coming out blind.
This cave twists and turns, there's all sorts of rocks
and projections, stalactites hanging down from the top.
Lots of things to run into.
Yeah we've got helmets on but they haven't.
So you just try and protect them with your body as best you can.
Of how well it suits them. Yeah.
So how many trips from the cave where the child was,
how long was it to get back?
It was a, it was a three hour, well that was on the first day.
We got better at it, as the days...
Approximately two-and-a-half, three hours.
..on the third day, it was closer to two hours
than three.
How were you checking if they were coming to?
It happens slowly.
So they just start to move their hands and feet a bit
and breathe a bit faster.
There were quite a few air pockets so...
Got you.
..try and get to those and give them an injection
and away they'd go. Did you have to do that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I'm a vet by profession
so I've given a lot of ketamine in my time, yeah.
And once you rescued all these children, how did you feel?
To get all of them out at the end, yeah,
it's just like the weight of the world's been lifted
off your shoulders.
To have 100% success rate and get all of them out alive
even as I sit here today I still can't really believe that
it worked out that well.
Well, thank you.
I think you're a very humble man, number seven.
Well...
I know you just think... I don't know.
..you're probably like us,
you think you're just doing your job at the time.
That's my normal operating environment.
I'm just doing what needs to be done.
You certainly inspired me but you're on my course
and you're only as good as your last task as you know.
Yep.
Guard!
Thank you, Staff.
Keep at it.
Keep strong.
It's going to get harder.
STAZ: Up.
And that was inspirational, mate. Yeah.
Travel halfway around the world
because you're one of the only people that know how to do
what you do, you (BLEEP) rescue those kids
and like how humble he is.
I'm not a hero, no.
I'm just an ordinary guy,
that's, that's been lucky to have, you know,
a set of skills and experiences
that's enabled me to help people out but, I'm no hero.
Captioned by Ai-Media ai-media.tv