Today marks the one-month anniversary since the cave-in cut off the miners escape route to the surface.
A message of hope was what the Rugby players wanted to send to the 33-trapped Chilean miners. The Rugby players wanted to share their own story in hopes of giving the miners inspiration to help endure their wait.
The Rugby players spent 72 days before being rescued from a plane crash 38 years ago. The sixteen survivors on the airplane endured frigid temperatures and high altitudes while stranded in the Andres Mountains. Of the 45 passengers on the plane, 12 died at impact, 17 died from their injuries before rescuers found them and 16 survived.
“Don’t give up,” former rugby player Moncho Sabella told the miners via video Saturday, CNN reported Sunday.
The miners were trapped for nearly three weeks before rescuers learned they were alive, and it will be months before the shaft is completed for their escape.
“Everything is possible if one fights to the end,” former rugby player Gustavo Zerbino told reporters.
The miners had their first videoconference with their families on Saturday and have been working on establishing routines and sleeping patterns that will help as they endure the long wait.
This video shows improvements in the miners living conditions with supplies being delivered through the existing shaft.
