a rescue capsule named phoenix

Unexpectedly, shortly after 5 this morning, as I'm doing my daily reading of news, emails and such, I find myself with tears pouring down my face as I come across the story of the first 7 of 33 Chilean miners who were rescued after 69 days of being trapped when 700,000 tons of rock collapsed on August 5, trapping them in the lower reaches of the mine.  That is simply incredible - that's over 2 months that they have been trapped down there!  I can't even begin to imagine what those men have been going through.  What on earth have they been doing with themselves, day in and day out, with no outward indication of course of the passing of days, and just waiting, waiting, waiting?!  Unfathomable.

AP photo: Chile's President Sebastian Pinera embraces Florencio Antonio Avalos Silva, the first miner to be rescued.

 How much food and liquids were they able to get down to these men after discovering on August 22 that they indeed were still alive?  Did they have room to move around down there?  Were their head lamps working still or were they in pitch blackness?

[As a follow-up, post-post, here's a link to an article that addresses these questions...]

I think part of the reason this struck me so hard is because mining is in my blood - my grandfather was the youngest of a family of Irish coal miners, the first to be freed from that hell, and the first to attend school beyond the age of 12.  His father and brothers all worked in the mines, 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, coming home completely black, covered in coal dust - the only thing you could see was their eyes and their teeth - only to return again bright and early the next morning and do it all over again.  I wonder how many miners were buried alive back in the day.  They certainly did not have the technology then that afforded these guys a safe return.  Of course, part of the culprit in the increased frequency of mining accidents is that many mountains, like this one, have been overexploited.  In this case, part of what made the rescue operation difficult and risky is finding sufficient virgin rock through which to drill the escape shaft.

I know these guys were mining copper and gold, not coal, and that work conditions have probably improved a little, but I'm sure it's still extremely hard work, and before this happened, these guys were "nobodys", just busting their tails to support their families.  Now, after enduring hell for over 3 months, they emerge to find themselves thrust into the world spotlight, being welcomed to the surface by their country's President and Vice President!  That's another potential tangent that I won't veer onto, but what a surreal experience it must be.  I also won't veer onto the conundrum that is our industrial/consumerist society, of which I, admittedly, am a part, that drives such mining operations. 

The other thing, silly enough, that sent another wave of tears down my face, is that the 13-foot rescue capsule, used to travel the 2,041 feet down the carefully crafted escape shaft and bring each of these 33 men to safety, one by one, is named Phoenix.  Just perfect.  And I was 33 when I brought this beautiful boy named Phoenix into the world.  (And 13 when I met his papa.  Yes, I have a bit of a thing with numbers...)

Miner Osman Araya arrives as the sixth miner to be hoisted to the surface in Copiapo October 13, 2010. Chile's 33 trapped miners are set to travel nearly half a mile through solid rock in a shaft just wider than a man's shoulders on Tuesday night, as their two month ordeal after a cave-in draws to an end.

REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE - Tags: DISASTER BUSINESS)

It's nice to see a story of hope and solidarity, and miracle even, amongst the barrage of hateful happenings of late.  I hope that through last night the rescue operations have proceeded smoothly, and I send love and healing to the men who survived this amazing ordeal.  I'm sure their lives will never be the same.

Here's a link to the full article that I read this morning on Yahoo news.