Doctors say most of those rescued healthier than expected

Most of the Chilean miners rescued after nearly 70 days underground and examined at a nearby hospital were healthier than expected, according to doctors.

Eleven of the 33 miners rushed to the Copiapo Regional Hospital for tests after they were rescued were “better than any prognosis”, with two exceptions, said the doctors, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Upon arrival, all of the miners underwent a thoracic and lungs exam. “They are all in perfect conditions except miner Mario Sepulveda, who has silicosis and Mario Gomez, who we found a bit weak,” said one of the doctors.

Mr Sepulveda, 39, was the second miner rescued after Florencio Avalos, 31. Both men were put aboard a Chilean Air Force helicopter and flown to the hospital at Copiapo, the capital of Atacama region and the closest city to the San Jose copper and gold mine where they had been trapped since an August 5 cave in. Mr Sepulveda “is in good spirits, but has silicosis”, one of the doctor said.

Silicosis is an irreversible respiratory disease caused by inhaling silica dust, a common ailment among miners.

Upon emerging from the mine, Mr Sepulveda handed out rocks from the bottom of the mine as gifts and led laughing officials in a celebratory football song.

Mr Gomez, 63, who is the oldest miner, had already been diagnosed with silicosis before he was trapped in the mine on August 5. He “is a bit weak”, the medic said.

The aging miner, who stepped out of the rescue capsule that brought him to the surface wearing a breathing mask to combat chronic breathing difficulties, said his life had been transformed.

“Often something has to happen to you before you stop and think and understand that you only have one life, and then you think what you have to change,” he told President Sebastian Pinera, who welcomed him.