Just to follow up on my recent post ‘Chile: Prayers for the miners’ rescue’: incredibly, all 33 were brought safely to ground level by Thursday morning London time.  The photo at left is of the last miner to come to the surface, Luis Urzua.  You can read the Daily Mail articles linked to below for more photographs and diagrams.

Thank the Lord that they are back with the living, safe and sound.  Some will require temporary hospitalisation, but no one is in critical condition.

The Daily Mail reported on Thursday:

One has been treated for pneumonia and two others have dental problems, but some have been told they may be able to leave hospital later today.

The rescue is a big success for Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, who waited at the mouth of the rescue shaft to greet and hug the men as they emerged.

‘Each rescue is taking 40 minutes… it could be completed today,’ said a beaming Pinera, who planned to stay until the last man was out.

‘Welcome to life,’ President Pinera told Victor Segovia, the 15th miner out. On a day of superlatives, it seemed no overstatement.

God and prayer were not unknown to these men:

‘I think I had extraordinary luck. I was with God and with the devil. And I reached out for God,’ said Mario Sepulveda.

Mr Sepulveda was the second miner to be rescued.

The ninth, Mario Gomez, who at 63 is the oldest miner, came up about an hour later and dropped to his knees and bowed his head in prayer.

Mr Gomez, the Mail tells us, suffers from a miners’ disease known as silicosis, which requires antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicine to keep his bronchial tubes under control.

As he descended to begin bringing the men back:

… rescue expert Manuel Gonzalez of the state copper company Codelco grinned and made the sign of the cross …

Interestingly, the men were given t-shirts to wear when they emerged.  All said ‘Thank you, Lord’ in Spanish and English.  Jose Enriquez, the brother of one of the trapped miners and an evangelist, had them specially made.

During their time underground, Mr Enriquez led the men remotely in daily prayer.  As a result:

many of the miners [told] their families they had found a new faith in God since the accident.

I sincerely hope that this faith sustains them in the weeks and years ahead.

A second Mail article, ‘Chile Miners Rescue: The foreman who refused to give up and remained 2,000 ft down’, tells us that the group’s foreman, Luis Urzua, aged 54:

used all his wits and his leadership skills to help his men remain calm for the 17 harrowing days it took for rescuers to make their first contact.

It was no surprise then, that Mr Urzua was the last of the 33 miners to leave the San Jose gold and copper mine after more than two months underground …

Robinson Marquez once worked with Mr Urzua in a nearby mine, Punta del Cobre.

He said: ‘He is very protective of his people and obviously loves them.’

He added that he would not have left until all his men were safely above ground.

Under Mr Urzua’s leadership, the men stretched an emergency food supply meant to last just 48 hours for more than two weeks, taking tiny sips of milk and bites of tuna every other day.

He said: ‘We had only a little food. We give thanks to God that we were able to resist.’

The trapped men limited how much they used their helmet lamps – the only source of light other than some vehicles.

They used a bulldozer to carve into a natural water deposit for drinking, but otherwise minimised the use of vehicles to protect the air quality …

Mr Marquez described Mr Urzua as a ‘calm, professional person’ and a born leader.

‘It is in his nature,’ Mr Marquez said. ‘It is his gift.’

Mr Urzua asked President Pinera not to forget him and his men. In a third Mail article, ‘Temper tantrums, weeks of counselling … and a media maelstrom’, British mine rescue consultant Robert Murray Willis agreed, explaining:

… some of the miners will cope better than others with different levels of education and family support.

But surprisingly, he predicted that most will want to get back to what they know and before long will return to the mining industry.

‘They do hard toil under risky, hazardous, nasty conditions,’ he said.

‘They dig and pick and work incredibly hard in order to complete their shift early so they can go back and have a few beers before going back to their families.

‘Underground is what they know and their inclination will be to go back underground. Their skill is mining. They will want to return to it.

‘The first month and the next two months are going to be tough.

‘But once they’ve gone past that three-month stage, there’s going to be the need to earn money again.’

The miners will also have to deal with the media attention, and the possibility of co-operating on a film about their ordeal, something which is ‘completely out of their sphere of knowledge’.

At least the offers of media interviews, free holidays to exotic destinations and possible film deals may help ameliorate their adjustment and give them intriguing, once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

Like lottery jackpot winners, however, they will need to exercise discernment and self-control.  And that is where Mr Enriquez and his ministry can play a continued role.