Deep Dark Down by Hector Tobar

 

Mining has always seemed a dangerous job. I grew up in West Virginia where coal is king.  While I did not have family members in the mines I did know people who worked there or had family members who did. A high school classmate lost her father in a mining accident and as recently as the last five years I know of someone who died in a mining accident in West Virginia. This book fascinated me, partly because of the mining connection and partly because I cannot imagine working underground let alone being stuck there for 69 days.

The 33 Chilean miners are like so many who work the mines. They are men, and now women, who go into the mines because of the money. It is dangerous but the pay is better than so many other jobs. It typically comes with health care and even pensions.  These men were individualists, company men, dedicated men, and men who really didn’t care about much.  Reading their stories was like getting to know them and their families.  

At first I could not understand why there were so many with wives and mistresses. Then we find out that Chile only recently (at the time of the accident) permitted divorce. Since many were also Catholic I wondered how all this synced with the teachings of the church. Then I realized that the majority are like many others and not terribly religious.  They became so when they had to rely on one another to survive. This did not surprise me as I remember the line from a WWII movie- “There are no atheists in foxholes”.

What would I do if I ever found myself in a life or death situation as this? I would hope I would be strong like they were.  Strengths and weaknesses abounded in the telling of their story. Like many people to whom a tragedy has occurred, they worried about how their families were faring. They wanted to live a better life when rescued.  Some would and others would not do as well. Posttraumatic stress touched most of them. Individuals took advantage and the media showed both the positive and the negative sides we often see here.  Since the 33 had agreed to keep quiet about the first 17 days, the press turned against them.  I remember seeing the reports about the wife and the girlfriend on the news here. That was life as they lived it but was sensationalized in the press because the fact that two women knew about each other and shared the same man was shocking to many and kept the ratings up.

Alcoholism, drug abuse, anger issues, fear, and the lack of food and potable water would be more than enough to permanently disable the strongest of humans. The fact that these men survived, returned to living above ground and seeming are going to be ok.  It took most of them more time than they expected but I gathered that each one has come to terms with the catastrophe and is surviving. Maybe that is their best testament.