My Heart is Sick
The story of the trapped miners in WV is horrifying. 13 men were missing after an explosion early Monday morning. Tuesday night around 9:00 p.m. a body was recovered but there were no signs of the other 12. Hope was thin, but perhaps the 12 had been able to barricade themselves somewhere with a pocket of good air. Knowing that the men had only an hour of oxygen on them, and treaters to provide another 7 hours of breathable air ... it was discouraging.
At midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, word spread like wildfire that the 12 had been found alive. Church bells were ringing, jubilation for the families - hedged with fear since the identity of the man found earlier had not yet been released. I went to bed thankful that the majority of them had been found alive and prayerful they would recover from any injuries.
I was having trouble falling asleep so I came back downstairs to watch CNN some more for the happy news. Around 2:15 a.m. they released that a man had been transported to a local hospital in critical condition - unconscious but alive. There were still a dozen or so ambulances at the mine but none were rushing off. Thirty minutes later, relatives of the missing miners approached Anderson Cooper during a live broadcast - they were in shock.
The news of "12 alive" was false. The owner of the mine (Ben Hatfield) had just told the families there at the church that there was only ONE survivor. ONE. Another 30 minutes later there was a press conference by the mine owner. He said that the earlier news of 12 survivors was NOT an approved release from the mining company - that they knew the information was incorrect but that they didn't know yet how many were alive or dead so they didn't step in to stop the earlier celebrations.
What I do NOT understand is why the mine didn't step in IMMEDIATELY to say "the report of survivors is unconfirmed, please wait until we know for certain." Don't let people who've been in agony for 40 hours believe their ordeal is over for nearly THREE hours, then step in and slam them into the ground. That's JUST WRONG.
Mr Hatfield was quoted as saying "welcome to the worst day of my life." If that "welcome to" bit of the quote is correct, I imagine Mr. Hatfield's worst day has yet to come.
Those poor families. That community. My home state. I can't even imagine what they're feeling today. I pray it's handled with grace. I pray that Mr. McCloy, the sole survivor, is able to recover and that the truth is revealed, for the sakes of the families.
At midnight Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, word spread like wildfire that the 12 had been found alive. Church bells were ringing, jubilation for the families - hedged with fear since the identity of the man found earlier had not yet been released. I went to bed thankful that the majority of them had been found alive and prayerful they would recover from any injuries.
I was having trouble falling asleep so I came back downstairs to watch CNN some more for the happy news. Around 2:15 a.m. they released that a man had been transported to a local hospital in critical condition - unconscious but alive. There were still a dozen or so ambulances at the mine but none were rushing off. Thirty minutes later, relatives of the missing miners approached Anderson Cooper during a live broadcast - they were in shock.
The news of "12 alive" was false. The owner of the mine (Ben Hatfield) had just told the families there at the church that there was only ONE survivor. ONE. Another 30 minutes later there was a press conference by the mine owner. He said that the earlier news of 12 survivors was NOT an approved release from the mining company - that they knew the information was incorrect but that they didn't know yet how many were alive or dead so they didn't step in to stop the earlier celebrations.
What I do NOT understand is why the mine didn't step in IMMEDIATELY to say "the report of survivors is unconfirmed, please wait until we know for certain." Don't let people who've been in agony for 40 hours believe their ordeal is over for nearly THREE hours, then step in and slam them into the ground. That's JUST WRONG.
Mr Hatfield was quoted as saying "welcome to the worst day of my life." If that "welcome to" bit of the quote is correct, I imagine Mr. Hatfield's worst day has yet to come.
Those poor families. That community. My home state. I can't even imagine what they're feeling today. I pray it's handled with grace. I pray that Mr. McCloy, the sole survivor, is able to recover and that the truth is revealed, for the sakes of the families.
posted by AlmstHvn at 8:07 AM
1 Comments:
That is so awful! I can't believe it.
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