LET MY PEOPLE GO!!!!!! : Chilean Miners Being FREED!

Though it looks like
a Texan flag, It's actually a
CHILEAN Flag.

YAY! Finally a happy ending to what could have been a very tragic story! After 69 long days below ground, I hear that 1 Bolivian and 12 Chilean miners have been hoisted to safety! The miners' being rescued range in ages from 19 to 63, the oldest had been mining since he was 12. (I doubt his family will let him mine another second of his life.) The remaining 20 will be rescued throughout the day. In a world where bad news sells, I'm glad to have a story like this around. The perseverance of the trapped to stay alive and not go crazy. The Rescuers not giving up and working tirelessly to safely return the miners to their families.

From what I am reading, Chile has a long history with mining. The country is a top Copper producer of the world. In the last decade, on average, the Chilean mining community has seen 34 deaths a year due to accidents. That's insane!

I'm a bit claustrophobic, so I think I would have gone completely mental within the first week. No sunlight would have plummeted me into a huge depression. I would have gone stir crazy from being in a confined space. (I guess that's the same as the claustrophobic comment.) But the unity between the trapped must be a solid bond. I'm sure there's a great camaraderie within the ranks, it's going to be weird not to see them every day as they have for the last two months. (I'm sure they're happy to see their families though.) It'll be hard to see each other once life gets "back to normal" as it'll be a reminder of the 69 - 71 days in a dark dungeon, miles below Earth's surface.

Bolivia's Flag

As the day goes on, the reports roll in and are being broadcasted making some of these numbers inaccurate... I've heard that the first miner to be evacuated from the Earth was done so just after midnight, making his containment for 70 days, not 69. I've heard that it takes about an hour per miner in rescue time. That means that the last miner to be rescued will have been underground for 71 days total. I've heard that both the Chilean and Bolivian Presidents are both on hand at the rescue site. It's also been reported that there has been a personal problem for one of the trapped miners. I guess both his wife and his mistress showed up to be the first to greet him. (The joke has already been made that he'll elect to stay underground instead.)

It's not always about me; I'm just glad it's a happy ending not a tragic!!!!