Chile 33: memoirs a rescuer E-Book

Roberto Ríos Seguel

• Herausgeber: RIL Editores
• Kategorie: Sachliteratur, Reportagen, Biografien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 207

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

The titanic task demanded such character and moral courage from the naval staff in general, and Lieutenant Rios in particular, to allow them to face the challenge successfully. Naval rescuers Rios and Roblero's spirit and their proactive attitude were quickly appreciated and assessed not only by myself, but also everyone who witnessed their conduct during the demanding and arduous training to which they were subjected by the rescuers' team leader, Ovidio Rodriguez, Codelco; as well as their professional work with the miners 620 meters deep. // Finally, such qualities and performance in the rescue would make naval rescuer Rios worthy of the Medal of Bravery awarded by the President of the Republic, in Valparaiso, on May 21st, 2011. While reading the book Chile 33: Memories of a Rescuer by Lieutenant Roberto Rios Seguel, you will get to know both the man and the spirit of service to the institution he belongs to and surely you will share in my satisfaction of having met him.

Leseprobe

Chile 33: Memoirs of a rescuer

RIL editores

bibliodiversidad

Roberto Ríos Seguel

Chile 33: Memoirs a rescuer

Chile 33: Memorias de un rescatista

Primera edición: septiembre de2012

© Roberto Ríos Seguel,2012

Contacto con el autor

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©RIL® editores,2012

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Composición y diseño de portada: RIL® editores

Traducción al inglés: Bernardita Poblete

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Derechos reservados.

I want to dedicate this book to God, whom I deeply love, for He is the One who has given me everything and I am grateful for the blessings and trials I have been through during my 35 years of life; to my beloved wife Ivette and my children, Paz, Elizabeth and Roberto Jr. I thank them for the love and understanding they have always shown me, mainly during the difficult moments in my career, as it was for instance, the rescue of our 32 fellow citizens and a Bolivian brother.

This great rescue made it clear that things work well when they are done with excellence and from God’s hand.

From the beginning, the readers will be able to immerse themselves in this story and live the adventures I experienced in the rescue, told in a simple, reliable and first hand way. I feel proud of being Chilean and able to serve my country wherever it needs me.

Words from the author

To let you know myfirst impression when seeing the miners after getting out of the Phoenix 2 capsule inside the mine, what Carlos Mamani’s reaction was when I had to postpone his going out to the surface, why there were two more rescuers apart from the ones who had already been planned, why the Nurses from the Chilean Navy and not other Chilean health or rescue entities went down, what the real story of the collapse inside the mine just before Daniel Herrera, number 16 to be rescued went up, was, the real story of the design of the Phoenix capsule, what the impasse inside the mine upon Pedro Riveros’ arrival was. These are the queries I will answer while narrating my memoirs.

«We had nothing, nothing. We filled half glass of milk with water to increase it, and that was to endure for 24 hours. Then, we came to the point of having only one and half spoonfuls of tuna; we even reached the point of being 72 hours without eating, dude.» (Franklin Lobos Ramirez1)

This is one of the first intense accounts I heard inside the San Jose Mine in the Atacama region of Chile, more than 2300 feet deep. It was the textual narrative of one of the 33 miners who were trapped without knowing if they would finally come out alive. They were 32 compatriots and one Bolivian man.

Dear reader, he who writes was a witness of one of the most heartbreaking, but also one of the most life-giving experiences that Chile has ever gone through.

Let me continue with Franklin Lobos’ account which I will summarize this way:

«We used to sleep in the center of the galleries of the mine on cardboard pieces to avoid getting wet or being hit by a stone. We slept a lot to avoid wasting energy. Many times I preferred to die instead of being there, waiting for something sometimes not even we ourselves believed. We had pain of hunger, we wanted to live, but knew it was almost impossible to be rescued».

Our miners experienced many different feelings; for instance, when the members of the team led by the mining engineer Andre Sougarrett started to search for them and their probing equipment reached the point where the miners could hear the drilling, they grouped like children right where it was supposed to break through; they were like children looking forward to something important with glazed eyes filled with happiness and hope; thinking it could be the first step to be free. They knew that once the drill reached them they could start living again, though, it was not going to be easy since the first probes were not accurate. They drilled up to a very short distance from reaching the 33 miners and suddenly stopped due to a hammer failure, rock quality and many other reasons. Every time they heard a noise they came closer with faith they would be found and when it stopped, sometimes even for two days, their world fell apart; they lowered their arms, cried, became desperate and thought of many, many things. Every time I reflect on that, I conclude I would not be able to be in their shoes for even one second. The hopelessness they experienced every time the drill stopped must have been dreadful.

Hearing these accounts somehow helped me to understand some of what the miners felt. My experience as a rescuer during the San Lorenzo operation2 was something completely different from what I am used to doing in the Navy. Being part of it was the most intense experience of my life. I thought many things in the weeks before arriving at the San Jose mine, during my training there and finally in the Phoenix 2 during my descent towards these people, who only had thought of how to get out of that place since the day they were found. These feelings I will fervently try to transmit to my readers.

These are not the accounts of someone who was only a couple of days at the San Jose Mine, nor of a person who just interviewed the actors of the rescue to write about it later. However, what you are going to read below are the accounts of someone who was an active part of this great rescue, which would be transmitted to all the countries around the world; someone who is enormously grateful for the opportunity God gave him through the Navy of Chile; because without Him and His infinite love nothing would have succeeded. I deeply love God for what I am and will be. I thank God for each of the rescued miners and I also ask they will never forget it was our God who made it possible for them to be rescued.

The Author

1Franklin LOBOS Ramirez was miner number 27 to be recued from the San Jose Mine.

2Name given to the complete rescue operation.

Summary of events

What motivates someone to be willing to lay down his life for someone else? This is a question only a few people can answer. There are some things that are difficult to explain and can only be lived through and then you need to do everything that is possible in order to somehow transmit them. Before starting to elucidate this big mystery and other things of great importance, it is completely necessary to summarize the most relevant accounts so that the reader can grasp what I want to transmit in this book because, without a doubt, there are a huge number of events in this great story that are worth remembering.

On September 24th, I was at the «Arturo Prat» Naval School3. It was a hot and very windy afternoon and I was quietly studying with my friend Roberto Norambuena. Regarding the trapped miners, I only knew what every Chilean learned through television without even thinking I would be more involved in the news than any other compatriot that day.

On Thursday, August 5th, 2010, at 14:00, the fateful collapse occurred in the San Jose Mine located in the Atacama region, near Copiapo and Caldera4. That day, one of the most emotional stories in Chile started to be written.

It is also important to mention Saturday, August 7th when there was a collapse in the ventilation duct. It abruptly cut the way for the rescuers, miners of the region, who, since that same day had started to work their only wish being the rescue of the victims being this one of the first rescue operations in the mine. It should also be pointed out that the probing devices arrived to the mine the next day to start searching for the miners and the rescue was led by the Minister of Mining Sr. Laurence Golborne Rivero along with Andre Sougarrett and Rene Aguilar who were engineers from Codelco5.

On Sunday, August 22nd at 15:15, President Sebastian Piñera Echenique and the Minister of Mining confirmed the 33 miners were alive. Also, a tunnel reached 688 meters (2260 feet) deep right over the shelter where the miners were at that moment. Through knocks and a message written on a scrap piece of paper with the famous caption: «All 33 of us are fine in the shelter»6 sent from the bottom, the miners reported they were miraculously well; told their location in the shaft shelter of the mine and the number of miners. It was a simple message full of meaning.

By then, I remember I was watching the Chilean live TV transmissions and I was very excited with the news since, according to all the records we had to that point, it was most likely they were dead.

Later, on Tuesday the 24th, when the sleeving of the walls of the about 9 cm diameter tunnel began, they started sending the first rations of water and food to the already famished miners every 6 hours.

That same day, August 24th, a group of members from the Navy of Chile arrived from Talcahuano and Viña del Mar under the leadership of Captain (from now on Commander7) Submarine Specialist Renato Navarro Genta. This group was also made up of Commander Doctor of the Navy Andres Llarena Astudillo, Master Chief Petty Officer Submariner Edgardo Rodriguez Urra and First Sergeant Nurse Submariner Edgardo Lagos Ruiz. This support group was requested to the superiority of the Navy by the Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, considering the conditions of the trapped miners were similar to the ones of a submarine crew unable to go back to surface. Undoubtedly, the confinement and the need of creating a routine which made the reclusion more bearable confirmed such reasoning was perfectly logical. All of a sudden, with the 33 miners alive, the aim of the group of rescuers changed, almost without notice, from working without a stop to find them to beginning their physical and psychological recovery by digging more «wells» in order to send them the already famous «doves», capsules of food and supplies. The ultimate goal was to bring them back to their relatives healthy.

Dated August 27thand after consulting the Naval Group, the Minister of Health asked the leader of the sailors to take control of logistics of the Health area of the rescue and tasked him to supervise and direct all the efforts to recover the 33 miners’ health, who had been trapped for 17 days without getting food or medicines, contribute to keeping them healthy during their confinement and rescue them alive to go back to their familiesin at least in the same condition they were before the collapse of the mine.

Also some other important things happened like the first images of the miners inside the mine, the first communication through an internal phone system, a video conference with their families, the arrival and beginning of operation of the first major drill machines: the STRATA 950, hired by Codelco and called Plan A on Monday, August 30th, the T-130 from GEOTEC, Plan B, on Sunday, September 5th and the petrol drilling machine RIG 421 from ENAP, Plan C, on Friday, September 10th.

As I have said, together with drilling the shaft to allow the miners come out, the San Lorenzo Operation also took into consideration the recovering and preserving of the miners’ health until their rescue. In practical terms, this led to the formation of two work forces: one drilling the rescue shaft and the other taking care of the miners. In this last assignment, which should be the duty of the Chilean Association of Security (ACHS) by law, the Navy of Chile through the Naval Task 33 Group (from now on GT33) participated actively. Actually, this group received the order directly from the Minister of Health, Sr. Jaime Mañalich, to take on control of this task, advised in every moment by Commander Andres Llarena, Doctor of the Navy who, being a doctor, had a lot to say regarding health and also counted on Sergeant Submariner Naval Nurse Edgardo Lagos Ruiz’s experience. With this aim, the Navy led the creation of «Specific Protocols» to follow in each contingency and developed, among others, the course «MITE 33»8 in order to instruct the ACHS staff that had to monitor the miners from above and the miners in the new operative medicine concepts through videos. The MITE 33 course, carried out from September 10th to 16th, was led by Commander Llarena, who was also the creator of the course initials. He was supported by Dr. Ximena Grove (metropolitan SAMU9), college nurse Robinson Talavera (Chilean red cross) and First Corporal Marine Naval Nurse Gabriel Cabezas Ríos (Navy of Chile), who was also a prehospital care course instructor.

This time, a bag with high standard materials was packed. It had, for instance, saline solution, hemostatic agents, emergency bandages and everything to make tourniquets, access intraosseous route10, etc. The idea was to have two bags: one on the surface and the other called a «mirror bag» inside the mine packed exactly the same way as the one on the surface. In the event a miner suffered any trauma, he would be assisted with instructions from the surface regarding which actions to be taken with the affected person and the kind of materials to be used. That is the reason why they had to know exactly where the materials were.

On Friday, September 17th, plan B, the T-130 drill, reached the workshop of the mine and this moment was celebrated in Chile and worldwide. With this event, the final stage of perforation to save the 33 miners started. Commander Navarro reported the Minister of Health, who was in Santiago that day, with a laconic message included in his daily informs:

«(Plan B) Progress until Sept. 17that 16:00: 630 mts. (with a 12 inch hammer). I have to point out that, today Friday 17that 10:30, it broke without novelty into the workshop and at that moment we made a video camera inspection of the condition of the shaft. On the 18th, they drilled again and plan to finish with a diameter of 28 inches without sleeving on September 30thif everything goes well. (Commander Navarro, September 2010)

On October 9th at 9:05, Plan B, the T-130, broke into the workshop again, now with the needed diameter to use the Phoenix 2 capsule. Finally, as it is widely known, on October 13th at 00:10, the rescue of the 33 miners from Atacama itself began with Codelco rescuer Manuel Gonzalez’s descent.

3The school where the Officers of the Chilean Navy are instructed and is named after our national hero Arturo Prat Chacon

4Copiapo and Caldera are in the Atacama region in the north of Chile

5Chilean company in charge of the rescue.

6Caption written by the miner Jose Ojeda which is now in the Atacama Regional Museum in Copiapo.

7That is how we call a superior Officer of the Navy of Chile..

8«MITE 33» Manejo Inicial del Trauma estacion 33 (Initial Managment of Trauma Station 33). They called the shelter «Station 33»

9Sistema de Atención Medica de Urgencia (Emergency Medical Care System) of Santiago, Chile.

10High standard supplies used in operative medicine by the Chilean Navy to equip its staff of naval nurses, especially those who are in combat units.

Who is rescuer roberto rios seguel?

Has the reader ever thoughtnothing is a coincidence in life? God has something prepared for each person. Our parents are not a coincidence. They are the parents God wanted us to have. Our childhood, our youth, etc. is the one He wanted us to live. Everything in life has a purpose we have to accept and live the best we can.

I come from a family of 5 children and my parents got married very young. My father, Mr. Manuel Rios, was a cook sailor and my mother was a housewife. During my childhood, I lived in many different places such as Talcahuano, Iquique, and Punta Arenas, just to name a few, because of my father’s job. But most of my life, I have lived in the 5th region, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso and Belloto.

On my own will, my youth was abruptly shortened because I had always been interested in sailors’ life. So, when I was 14 years old, I sent my application to the Navy of Chile. However, in the first stage of the process in April, they told me I could not continue because I was only 14 and not 15, which was the compulsory minimum age at that time. Nevertheless, when I told the people in charge of the recruiting process I would be 15 years old by July 23rd, they considered it and told me they would make an exception since I would have turned the minimum age for the second stage of the process.

I entered the Seamen Apprentice School11 on January 14th, 1992 and I was there for two years. The second year was a very special one because I met my beloved wife Ivette with whom I now have three children.

About my family, I can say it is very special because it was shaped through hardships on the way. Ivette was 15 years old when I met her and I was 16. We got married when she was 20 and I was 21. We spent almost five years trying to have a baby without success due to some of my wife’s health problems. Later, she got pregnant but had a miscarriage at only two months of gestation. That was very hard news because we wanted that child whose name would be Samuel with all our hearts so we cried a lot but we also had faith. I remember I went to the church my wife and I attended and told the news to my «brothers» and I finished saying: «Don’t worry, brothers, because now that we lost one baby, I’m going to ask God for two». Time passed by and then a brother prayed for my wife and told her that in 90 more days she would be pregnant and it would be two babies. My wife told him ok but at the same time you could see she doubted.

Three months had gone by after that prayer when my wife visited the doctor for a different reason than the issue of having children. When she got to the hospital, a friend found her a little strange and told her to make a pregnancy test, but she refused at first. After her friend insisted, she made it and it turned positive. The next day, we visited the specialist to get an ultrasound and while he was carrying it out, he told us: «Look here you can perfectly see the baby.» At that point, I was really happy; my face reflected the end of a long wait. Then, he told us: «Look, here is the other baby». After hearing that, my face overflew happiness; my jaw hurt from smiling so much. Everything happened exactly when God said it would and it is for that and many other reasons that I believe in a good and powerful God. Later, we asked God for a boy and Roberto Jr. came into our lives. That is why I say I have a special family. I have four miracles in my life: my wife, my twins and Roberto Jr.

My beloved wife, Ivette, and my twins, Paz and Elizabeth, and Roberto Jr. (Photo 1-2)

Christmas 2010 with my beloved family (photo 186)

As I said before, I do not believe in coincidence or luck. But, I attribute everything that happens to God’s perfect will.

I graduated from the Seamen Apprentice School with two clear goals in mind. The first and most convincing one was to enroll in the Special Force Training in the Navy to become a Tactical Diver, similar to the Navy Seals Training in the United States. During that training, many values and concepts strengthen in me. The most important was «to do everything with excellence and always be the best» either when sweeping or doing a more complex professional task and I try to fully live by these principles up to this day. Secondly, I was sure I wanted to study a specialty called Maneuver, a specialty that is practiced on the deck of the ships where the specialist has to do mooring work and in general it concerns everything related to the deck.

My first destination was an oil tanker where I served as a Maneuver oriented Sailor for a whole year. Meanwhile, I also applied to become a Tactical Diver. In the end, I thought if I took this specialty and got injured, I did not want to be a Maneuver for the rest of my career; so I changed to Electronics not knowing what God was planning for me considering a specialist in Maneuver and the other in Electronics have nothing to do with each other.

The following year, I took the Tactical Diver course ranking second in my class and I learned body and mind do not have limits. These are set by yourself and you have to strive to always be the best in everything. I worked as a Tactical Diver for three more years and here is where the alleged «coincidences», which as I said before are not such, started.

I had to take another specialty course but I requested to study Electronics. However, due to institutional reasons, I could not take that specialty and I was offered some other alternatives, none of which I really liked. But, I have always said you have to make every effort to do what you like and not something else so I spent about two months without being able to make up my mind on what I was going to study.

One day I was working in the south of the country and the Commander of my unit, Commander Manuel Ovalle Cisterna called me and said: «Hey, what are you going to study in the end? I have offered you everything and the only new option I have for you is Nursing». It was something I had never thought about and after considering Maneuver and Electronics, it did not take me more than 5 seconds to give a resounding answer: «Yes, my Commander!» Summing up, I studied Nursing for two years ranking first in my class when I graduated. After that, I applied to a specialty called Technical Nurse in Hyperbaric Medicine because it was most compatible with my diving specialty, but, amazingly, the «coincidences of life» guided me study something different due to an ear problem.

I studied to become an Anesthesia Technician, specialty which same as Nursing, I have never regretted choosing. It was the best that could have ever happened to me in the professional field. Thank God, I was the first student in my class and graduated with highest distinction from my peers for having the best academic grades of all the students that year.

For a while I was coming and going from the hospital, where I was practicing as a Nurse, to the Special Forces. And because of my good performance as a nurse after a couple of years, they gave me the chance to be an instructor for a course called P.H.T.L.S.12 (Prehospital Trauma Life Support). First, I passed the P.H.T.L.S. course for students and then the one for instructors. In the same discipline, I took another course called C4 (Combat Casualties Care Course)13 which has been very useful in my career and I was also an instructor. After a few years, both courses would have vital importance in this sequence of «coincidences» I am telling you about.

At the end of the day, I can say I will never regret studying Nursing because it has allowed me to work as a health professional and gave me the chance to make history in the rescue of the 33 miners in Atacama as well.

Currently, this is the 20th year of my career in the Navy of Chile and I thank God because I have been able to do things right by enforcing the concept of «doing everything with excellence and being always the best» to the maximum. As the years went by, I got very good grades and relevant destinations in the Navy and, for this reason, I was chosen from among 1.600 other people to take the «Enlisted Officer Candidates» course14