Trauma hitting freed miners

COPIAPO, Chile – The emotional and psychological trauma of 33 miners rescued this week after 69 days trapped underground began to surface Friday, even as many of the physically healthier men were being released from a regional hospital here.

In a Friday news conference, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said some of the men who were rescued from the San Jose mine are showing signs of disorientation as they struggle to become reacquainted with life above ground.

It was this psychological fragility that was given as the reason for the cancellation of a Mass of thanksgiving that was to have been celebrated at the San Jose mine Sunday by the miners and their families. Atacama state Gov. Ximena Matas said the men are not in a condition to confront the scene of their anguish.

“Ideally, they need a period of rest because they are still on emotional roller coasters,” Manalich said. “They still have to process what they went through, to let their experiences settle, have their nightmares and let out their anxieties.”

However, the glare of media attention focused on the men is not likely to ease that process. Job offers, gifts, invitations from around the globe issued by celebrities and presidents to visit glamorous spots and attend major events have poured in.

Yet coping with even small celebrations after months in the dank and dark have proved a challenge.

“I didn’t think I’d make it back, so this reception blows my mind,” Edison Pena, one of the first three miners to be released from hospital, told reporters as waiting neighbors showered him with confetti on his return home. “We really had a bad time.”

Most of the attention has been met with silence, in part because the miners apparently have agreed to share their story collectively in order to equally share any financial gain.

When asked if some of the men were experiencing post-traumatic stress syndrome, Manalich answered by saying a group of Australian miners stuck underground for 10 days experienced psychological problems, so it would be reasonable to expect these miners might go through an “extraordinarily difficult time.”

Another 10 miners were expected to be sent home Friday, but Manalich added that not all of them would be released in coming days.

One miner is known to be suffering from pneumonia complicated by silicosis, a chronic lung disease, another from complications from diabetes and several others from serious dental problems.