By paNOW Staff

Dramatic rescue in Chile hits close to home for Prince Albert man

Oct 13, 2010 | 4:54 PM

Nigel Maxwell

paNOW Staff

A man who lives in Prince Albert feels a close connection to the trapped miners in Chile.
Anibal Bravo was born in Chile and now works at the McArthur Lake mine in Northern Saskatchewan.
“Even after being here 34 years, you still get quite emotional when you see the first miner emerge,” said Bravo.
Bravo works as a safety officer at the mine.
He said when working underground you always have to be prepared for an emergency, but when asked if he has thought about if he were the one underground, he said, “You don't think about that, you think about doing your job … If you don't think about that, you run the risk of hurting yourself or others.”
Bravo said it is amazing to see the men in such high spirits after so many days underground.
“In the winter, when a lot of the workers here go down to the mine at seven o'clock in the morning, it is dark …. they come up at 630pm, it is dark …. I've seen workers go on like this for three weeks and get depressed … because they can't see the sun.”
Bravo said he wishes he was there in Chile helping with the rescue effort.
nmaxwell@rawlco.com