THE miners who have spent nearly 70 days trapped some 700m underground in northern Chile started to get their lives back yesterday.
And their ordeal left them with a feeling that there is no time to waste: the immediate future holds weddings, holidays, parties and television appearances as they work to forget the darkness of the mine.
"They squared off with death, they were born again and they are going to be very happy," said psychologist Alberto Iturra, who has talked to the trapped miners and their families everyday in recent weeks.
"They are going to come out very different men," Iturra explained.
Miners Esteban Rojas and Claudio Yanez proposed marriage to their partners, who are also mothers of their children, from the depths of the mine.
The youngest of the trapped miners, Jimmy Sanchez, 19, and the father of a four-month-old girl, also proposed to the baby's mother. But before the wedding, he has other things to keep him busy: around 500 of his neighbours are preparing a big party for their local hero.
"I have suffered a lot and I don't want to suffer anymore," Sanchez said in his last letter from the mine.
Others are just planning a holiday. Miner Juan Illanes described the trip up in the rescue capsule as "a cruise," but many of the workers who were trapped for weeks want real vacations as they seek to get over their plight.
Beyond the excitement of the rescue, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera made it clear that the San Jose mine will no longer operate. The trapped miners will be out of a job, and they are reportedly be planning a class action suit against the mine's owner, a firm that has filed for bankruptcy.
Mine survivors to face new life adventures
THE miners who have spent nearly 70 days trapped some 700m underground in northern Chile started to get their lives back yesterday.
And their ordeal left them with a feeling that there is no time to waste: the immediate future holds weddings, holidays, parties and television appearances as they work to forget the darkness of the mine.
"They squared off with death, they were born again and they are going to be very happy," said psychologist Alberto Iturra, who has talked to the trapped miners and their families everyday in recent weeks.
"They are going to come out very different men," Iturra explained.
Miners Esteban Rojas and Claudio Yanez proposed marriage to their partners, who are also mothers of their children, from the depths of the mine.
The youngest of the trapped miners, Jimmy Sanchez, 19, and the father of a four-month-old girl, also proposed to the baby's mother. But before the wedding, he has other things to keep him busy: around 500 of his neighbours are preparing a big party for their local hero.
"I have suffered a lot and I don't want to suffer anymore," Sanchez said in his last letter from the mine.
Others are just planning a holiday. Miner Juan Illanes described the trip up in the rescue capsule as "a cruise," but many of the workers who were trapped for weeks want real vacations as they seek to get over their plight.
Beyond the excitement of the rescue, Chilean President Sebastian Pinera made it clear that the San Jose mine will no longer operate. The trapped miners will be out of a job, and they are reportedly be planning a class action suit against the mine's owner, a firm that has filed for bankruptcy.
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