Chile miner rescue: a wife’s story

Fiona Govan for Telegraph.co.uk (at the San Jose mine) – Wednesday, 14 October, 2010 (originally published 13 Oct)

Lilianet Ramirez, 51, has been married to Mario Gomez, for thirty years. At 63 her husband is the oldest miner in the group. They have four daughters and seven grandchildren

Chile miner's family wait for miner's rescue

The family of miner Mario Gomez, one of the 33 miners trapped underground in the San Jose mine, in Copiapo. Image: REUTERS

Here in her own words Lilianet Ramirez tells The Daily Telegraph
of her wait for her husband’s return -

The day before the collapse:

The day before the accident at the mine I pleaded with Mario not to go to work the next day. It was Children’s Day in Chile and I wanted us to spend it with our daughters and grandchildren. He wanted to come with us on an outing but at the last minute he said “No I don’t want to be irresponsible I have to go.” He was always talking about the dangers in the mine and promised that he would give up working there for good after Christmas. So we agreed on that.

The day the mine collapsed:

Mario woke up at 6 am as usual. . .

. . . read complete report . . .