Hope and joy radiate from deep within a Chilean mine

A world that was in need of a feel-good story received one this week when months of concerted effort by hundreds of rescue workers and international technical consultants resulted in the rescue of 33 miners from the depths of a Chilean mountain.

Hundreds of millions of television viewers got to witness the best reality show ever broadcast as miner after miner emerged from a rescue capsule that made the half-mile trip through solid rock to and from the cavern where the miners had spent 69 days of their lives.

During the first two weeks of that time, the miners had every reason to believe that they would never see daylight again. That they remained calm, that they developed a routine, that they did not lose collective hope that they would be rescued is a testament to the human spirit.

But amid the euphoria, there should also be a recognition of reality.

The first reality is that some of these men will not find it easy to put their ordeal behind them. Miners who have been rescued after prolonged periods underground have described symptoms similar to post traumatic stress syndrome.

The second is that while this mining story came with a happy ending, too often that is not the case, from the mines of West Virginia — where two disasters, one in 2006 and one in 2010, killed 41 miners — to the mines of China, where thousands die every year.

Knowing that modern technology — much of it developed in the United States — makes a miraculous rescue possible should only spur every nation to use available technology to avoid catastrophes.

Dangers

We use the products of mines every day to make our lives more comfortable, but rarely think about the dangers faced by miners working deep beneath the earth’s surface.

But it was impossible for anyone not to think of the danger while watching over and over as a NASA-designed capsule made its laboriously slow descent and ascent on live TV.

Seeing the joy of rescuers, friends and relatives as each miner emerged from the capsule provided new evidence of how precious life is.

And the warm feeling that came from watching dramatic events thousands of miles away only affirmed how strongly we are connected to each other, regardless of national origin or lot in life.

What could have been yet another mining disaster has a happy ending. But a happier ending is possible if mine operators and miners work together to reduce the likelihood of accidents.

Let the heroic measures we have witnessed in Chile be necessary in fewer and fewer instances every year.