The world may have been waiting to catch a glimpse of Luis Urzua, the last miner to emerge from a collapsed Chilean mine to a hero’s welcome, but to the trapped men, the real hero was Manuel Gonzalez, the first brave rescuer to venture down into the hell hole.
Gonzalez, a rescue expert with state copper company Codelco, served as guinea pig, riding the special Phoenix II capsule down to the shelter where he was promptly mobbed by the miners, elated over their first outside human contact in 10 weeks.
(READ the story from AFP via Sydney Morning Herald)