SANTIAGO, Chile, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- One of the Chilean miners trapped underground for 69 days said he felt better off before the Oct. 14 rescue, as the stress of publicity takes its toll.
"Sometimes I think I was a lot better inside the mine, because this whole situation has made me very nervous and I can't sleep well," rescued miner Omar Reygadas told The Santiago Times.
Another rescued miner, Mario Gomez, said, "I'm super tired of the siege from the press, the promises by authorities and the trips. We hope that this all goes away quickly and that everything calms down."
The newspaper said interview requests from around the world have come in, some offering as much as $100,000. The miners and a team of lawyers have, meanwhile, formed a group to share proceeds from interviews and other publicity and to file lawsuits against owners of the San Jose mine and against government mining industry regulators.
With their world suddenly turned from a dark tunnel to the glare of international celebrity, the rescued miners have been seen daily by medical and psychological helpers to negotiate their lives back to normal again.
"They are in the middle of a situation that they are not prepared to confront. What they need right now is to rest," said psychiatrist Alberto Iturra.
"My advice is that they do what they are comfortable with, that they enjoy the moment and that they don't forget who they are," he said.
