Trapped miners still carry scars of ordeal

– A decade ago, 33 Chilean miners became a symbol of hope and solidarity after surviving for more than two months trapped deep underground in the Atacama desert.

Today, far from the whirlwind of global media attention that greeted them upon their miracle escape, the men are at odds – mired in trauma, illness, jealousy and bitterness.

“We greatly enhanced the name of our country. Our accident opened borders, it made our country known and we’ve been treated terribly,” says Mario Sepulveda, 49.

On 5 August, 2010, just after lunch, part of the San Jose copper mine in northern Chile collapsed underground, turning the 33 men – aged from 19 to 63 at the time – into prisoners.

It took 17 days to even find them alive 600m below, at the bottom of the century-old mine.

It then took 52 days more before they were winched to safety through a narrow hole as the world watched on television.

The miners were greeted as heroes, revered for their solidarity in the crisis and their ability to overcome hunger.

They were offered free travel, given $10 000 (R169 000) each by a Chilean businessman and Antonio Banderas starred as Sepulveda in The 33, a Hollywood retelling of their story.

But the good times didn’t last, as several of them told AFP. Their journeys are different, but they share one thing: bitterness.

Jose Ojeda was the voice of hope. It was his message – sent through a drill on 22 August – that first informed the world the miners were still alive.

Today, he struggles with advanced diabetes and walks with crutches.

He lives with his wife and daughter in Copiapo on his government pension of roughly $320 a month – not enough to pay his medical bills in a country where healthcare is privatised.

“People thought we got a lot of money but it’s not like that,” Ojeda said.

After an eight-year court battle, the government was ordered to pay $110 000 to each miner.

But the government appealed, claiming that 14 of the 33 miners already had lifetime pensions from various sources. The suit is still pending. The bitterness they blame on money: all ceded the film and book rights to their story.

One blasted the lawyers who “earned a lot of money from us, and we got nothing”. –