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Chilean Miners Rescued: What is Next For the 33 Men?

by Amy Judd | October 15, 2010 at 02:46 pm

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The 33 Chile Miners Were All Rescued Safely and Are Almost All Out of Hospital - What is Next For the 33 Men?

The world watched with baited breath as one by one the Chilean miners were hoisted to the surface, greeting their loved ones and shaking the hands of those who had been waiting for them for 69 days.

All of the 33 men were taken to hospital where now all but two have been released from Copiapo Regional; the remaining two men have not been identified, but they will be moved to another building.

Paola Neumann, director of health services, told CNN that some of the miners have had trouble sleeping, but most are making a better recovery than was even predicted by the medical staff. None of the miners will require extensive medical treatment, which is amazing considering they were trapped underground for over two months.

Three miners were released on Thursday.

CNN's sister network, CNN Chile, identified the first three released as Juan Illanes, Edison Pena and Carlos Mamani. It aired video of several men and what appeared to be their families inside a red van departing the hospital grounds.

Some or all of the men could eventually develop post-traumatic stress disorder, but at this time all are doing remarkably well.

Keeping Silent About Their Ordeal

The miners have been mostly quiet about what happened to them down in that mine, and now there are rumors of book and movie deals. American journalist Jonathan Franklin has already signed up to write a book about the ordeal and he has been following the story from day one.

There are whisperings that the men have made a pact not to speak about some of the things that went on underground in the 17 days before they were located.

Getting Back to Their Lives

Once the media attention dies down, as it inevitably will, these men will have to eventually return to work and their normal home lives and try to live out their days happy and content that they survived such an ordeal and all lived to tell the tale.

One miner will be going to Graceland for a vacation, but it is not known if any of them will ever return to mining again.

There are rumors that the men will not be paid by the mining company for their time they were trapped in the mine, but with all the television, radio and movie offers they may not have to work for a really long time. They have hired an accountant and have agreed to divide all their earnings equally between the 33 of them so that no one makes more than anyone else.

Bolivian Carlos Mamani has already been offered a house and a permanent job back in Bolivia, and Franklin Lobos, a former football player, has received offers to coach football.

The men are seen as national heroes and symbols of hope all around the world, but they insist they are just ordinary men.

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jack alexander

at 15:19 on October 16th, 2010

Just read a couple of hours ago that now 17 are trapped in a coal mine explosion in China with several dead. Shouldn't this teach us to stay on the surface?