Korean miners rescued from complete darkness struggle in recovery

Park Jung-ha, one of the last two rescued miners, eats dinner in his hospital bed at Andong Medical Group Hospital in Andong, North Gyeongsang, with his eye mask off on Monday afternoon. [NEWS1]

Two miners who were rescued after 221 hours of being trapped in a collapsed mine shaft in Bongwha County, North Gyeongsang, are having a hard time recovering.

“My dad almost fell off his bed two nights in a row after convulsing,” Park Geun-hyeong, the 42-year-old son of one of the miners, told the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday.

“Both of them ask us if they are actually back alive after waking up in the morning. We applied for psychiatric treatment because it seems like they are facing quite serious trauma.”

The two miners, both surnamed Park and aged 62 and 56, were the last to be rescued out of a group of seven miners who were trapped when a vertical shaft collapsed at 6 p.m. on Oct. 26.

Those two finally saw their 221-hour ordeal come to an end at 11:03 p.m. on Friday.

“My mom who was also sleeping in the hospital room woke up after both screamed while they were asleep,” the son said.

“It feels like it will take longer than expected for them to recover and be discharged from the hospital.”

Four days have passed since the two miners started receiving treatment at a hospital.

“Their symptoms of swollen eyes and slight spasms are getting better,” said a spokesperson for the Andong Medical Group Hospital in Andong, North Gyeongsang, where the two miners are currently staying.

“Their condition is improving.”

However, as both miners have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and are still suffering from various pains including backaches, family members of the two miners say they will need further treatments and hospitalization.

The two miners applied for occupational accident compensation through the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service on Tuesday.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, BAEK KYUNG-SEO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]