Chilean Miner testimony

I went to a really moving talk this evening by Jose Henriquez, one of the 33 Chilean miners stranded 720 metres underground for 69 days last year.  He was accompanied by Alf Cooper, chaplain to the President of Chile who translated and his wife Blanca. Jose was one of the older miners at 54 and was a drill master. Known as “The Pastor” because he was a Christian, Jose called all the miners together to pray during their ordeal. He spoke of them surviving for the first 17 days when no one knew if they were alive or dead on just half a teaspoon of tuna which they mixed with a little water to create a soup. During this time some of the men wrote out their will in despair. In their chamber it was a stifling 34 degrees and in the heat some of the men started fighting, others became ill. Then against all the odds a second drill sent down to find them which was going to miss its target struck a rock and entered their chamber. When they saw the drill bit come through, they were estatic and hit it with bars, before attaching a note to it saying they were alive. During this time his wife Blanca refused to admit he was dead but couldn’t face seeing his ordeal transmitted live across the worlds media and turned off the TV. When they were finally reunited, she wept uncontrollably and told Jose the whole of Chile had been praying for them. Asked if she would ever allow her husband to go down a mine again she emphatically replied no. Jose replied we’re still talking about that.