Chilean Miners Trapped
Roughly three weeks ago, 33 Chilean miners were working as usual, until the mine collapsed and trapped them. During this devastating turn of events, the miners have been finding ways to keep calm and communicate with their loved ones. Men have created videos to be sent to their friends and families, showing them playing dominos and singing Elvis songs together. A small hole has been drilled into the mine, where letters from wives and children can be lowered, along with religious figurines. They used the figurines to create a shrine, which they pray around every night.
The miners report that they have “everything planned out”. There is a small table where they all gather around, and discuss plans on how to stay alive and keep calm in the midst of the many stresses underground. There are groups of men who stay awake while the second group sleeps, and vice versa. They all take turns drinking drained water from a piece of water-cooled equipment. Cool bottles of water have also been lowered down into the mine, but dehydration still remains a big threat. A few men have reportedly been getting depressed and angry, which is completely understandable. An unidentified miner claimed, “This mine is a living hell, and I wish I could leave right now.”
When they are finally able to be lifted out from the mine, there is a strong possibility that the men may suffer from a type of post-traumatic stress. They may start to feel a loss of emotional control when entering a dark area, such as a movie theatre. This is because small, dark places will remind them of the seclusion they lived in when they were stuck in the mine. Michael Pollock shares with us his input on this situation in Chile. He says, “Mining is absolutely a dangerous job. There are not many professions in which their workers can die and are at physical risk every day.”
He’s right, mining is one of the most dangerous jobs out there because of the lack of safety and clean air, long shifts, and manual labor. He continues, “I know the miners are really deep, and they have ways of getting food and water, but it will take months for them to get out.” It was recently publicly announced that the men would be brought back up to the surface around Christmas time, and now reporters are saying that the miners will be back no later than mid November.
There is still hope for each and every one of these men to survive and put this awful experience behind them, as long as they work together and keep a positive attitude.
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