The Thai soccer team have been given the all-clear to go home after their traumatic cave rescue

Channel News Asia/Screenshot

• The 13 members of the Thai soccer team who were rescued from a cave held a press conference on Wednesday: their first public appearance.
• Doctors told the press that the boys are strong "emotionally and physically" and can go home.
• The boys and their coach are answering a series of questions from the media which have been screened beforehand.
• The 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach have been recovering in the hospital for the last week after surviving around two weeks of being trapped.

The 13 members of the Thai soccer team who were rescued from a cave held a press conference on Wednesday evening after finally leaving the hospital where they have been recovering.

Doctors told the press that the boys are strong "emotionally and physically" and are ready to go home.

"We had experts look at them and checked their blood for diseases. I can confirm they are ready to go home, both mentally and physically.

"They've been ready to go home since they were in the cave," doctors said.

Doctors also said the boys are responding to stress well, and are ready to leave a "normal life."

The boys left the hospital at around 5:00 p.m. local time wearing their soccer uniforms emblazoned with their "Wild Boar" team logo. Vans painted in silver and pink drove the boys to the press conference, which began at roughly 6:00 p.m.

The live conference is airing on the local program "Thailand Moves Forward," and has been allotted 45 minutes. The boys and their coach are answering a series of questions which have been screened beforehand, officials said.

The 12 boys, aged 11-16, and their 25-year-old coach have been recovering in the hospital for the last week after surviving more than 10 days inside the cave where they were trapped.

The rescue mission to extract the boys was dangerous and difficult, and took a team of more than 900 police officers, over 100 divers, and thousands of volunteers, according to the Wall Street Journal.