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Chilean Miners Struggle With Mental Heath Effects, Poverty One Year After Rescue

First Posted: 10/12/11 05:13 PM ET Updated: 12/12/11 05:12 AM ET

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The movie rights have been sold, but on the one-year anniversary of their rescue, the 33 Chilean miners aren't feeling like celebrities. These men continue to grapple with poverty and the psychological effects of the trauma they faced, CNN reports.

"I asked the miners themselves and they say 'We feel like orphans,'" Jonathan Franklin, author of "33 Men" -- a firsthand account of the miners' experiences -- told CNN "'The world came to us and then they forgot about us.'"

When the men were rescued, after being trapped 2,000 feet underground for nearly 10 weeks, they briefly attained celebrity status and promises of book and film deals. But, Franklin said, they have yet to see those benefits and continue to struggle with the memories of their near-death experiences.

“People forget how much these men suffered,” Franklin said. "They were dying this collective death."

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The movie rights have been sold, but on the one-year anniversary of their rescue, the 33 Chilean miners aren't feeling like celebrities. These men continue to grapple with poverty and the psychologica...
The movie rights have been sold, but on the one-year anniversary of their rescue, the 33 Chilean miners aren't feeling like celebrities. These men continue to grapple with poverty and the psychologica...
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Read more from Huffington Post bloggers:
Arianna Huffington Arianna Huffington: South American Diary, Chile: More Than Miners Are Being Rescued Rabbi Elie Kaunfer Rabbi Elie Kaunfer: Chilean Miner Rescue, Celebration Gives New Meaning to Old Prayers William K. Black William K. Black: Capitalism Would Have Killed the Chilean Miners: A Reply to Mr. Henninger Mike Elk Mike Elk: Rescued Chilean Miners Greeted As Heroes -- but They're Also Victims Jeremy Littau Jeremy Littau: Chile Is a Story About Journalism's Failure James Heffernan James Heffernan: How a Government Takeover Saved 33 Lives Ben Sherwood Ben Sherwood: Rock Stars: How the Story of the 33 Chilean Miners Breaks All the Rules Richard Trumka Richard Trumka: Let's Cheer the Chilean Miners -- and Fight for Workers Everywhere Ben Sherwood Ben Sherwood: Happy Rebirth Day: What's Next for the 33 Chilean Miners?
Arianna Huffington

Arianna Huffington: South American Diary, Chile: More Than Miners Are Being Rescued

My South American trip is in full swing and, again and again, I've been struck by the way that Chile and Brazil, the two countries I'm visiting, have, on key issues, transcended the tired division between left and right the United States seems hopelessly mired in. Chile is led by a president from the right, Brazil by a president from the left. But both have gone beyond stereotypes and shibboleths in order to tackle hard problems. My first stop was Santiago, Chile, where I interviewed President Sebastián Piñera. Piñera is the third richest man in Chile; a former professor with a Ph.D. from Harvard; and the first right-wing president Chileans have elected in the two decades since Pinochet. So it's surprising to learn that his signature goal is the elimination of poverty. "By the end of the decade," he tells me, "we want to have closed the gap in income between rich and poor."

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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Lovekaley2006
i live in vegas so i stay in vegas
18 Fans
10:42 PM on 10/12/2011
the only people that owed them anything are the owners of the mine. im pretty sure that company went belly up. as far as the rights to the movie that could be a swindler type deal where they get NOTHING!! hollywood is filled with snakes. not to mention they are all still in chile. they are not American but got a taste of AMERICA. they expected to reap the bennies but got burned. GET BACK TO THE MINE BOYS!!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Lovekaley2006
i live in vegas so i stay in vegas
18 Fans
10:26 PM on 10/12/2011
what do they want? a cookie? they are lucky to be alive. move on.
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hattie54
249 Fans
09:09 PM on 10/12/2011
Are they going to make the movie or not?It took 38 years to make a movie about Secretariat,38 years too late.Seabiscuit did better at the box office.
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rogo788
17 Fans
07:54 PM on 10/12/2011
I remember that they didnt want to give interviews until they saw the big Bucks! lol They wanted to cash in. I think they should be grateful that they were rescued... Sorry miners, no sympathy here. Next....
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Kritikos
Intelligence is not a science
520 Fans
 
07:45 PM on 10/12/2011
Not unexpected--wishing them all the best as they go.
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leftylori
40 Fans
07:24 PM on 10/12/2011
I wonder how the powers that be didn't see this one comming.
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nanz1115
75 Fans
06:24 PM on 10/12/2011
I remember that day, everyone watched as they were brought up one by one. Sadly they had their fifteen minutes of fame and the world forgets them.
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collectsrocks
It's good to be good & nice to be nice
272 Fans
06:20 PM on 10/12/2011
I was certain I would see many comments about the Chilean miners but there were none. I guess the miners really have been forgotten about. I remember them and their courage. I send my prayers to them for their emotional peace and my hope that one day they will escape poverty.
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