Man trapped inside mine for 69 days recalls harrowing rescue that felt like ‘being born again’

A man who was trapped inside a Chilean mine for a staggering 69 days has recalled the moment rescuers came to help after thinking he wouldn't make it.

Over 16 years ago, on August 5, 2010, the San Jose copper mine disaster occurred, which sent shockwaves across the nation.

You see, such incidents had happened in Chile’s Atacama Desert before, including 43 deaths in the mine back in 2008.

So, when the cave-in happened some 16 years ago, families of the 33 miners really feared the worse.

But the reality was those working at the copper-gold mine that day had survived the initial incident but were now stuck 2,300 feet underground and three miles away from the mine's entrance.

The harrowing story is being told in the three-part National Geographic documentary, Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time, which premiered on Saturday (September 26).

The miners were trapped for over two months (Nicolas Torres /LatinContent via Getty Images)

Authorities began digging in the hope of finding the miners, and it was until 17 days after they'd plummeted, close to 400 hours after they vanished, once they began to have a bit of hope they would make it out alive.

Recalling the moment those drills appeared out of nowhere and provided much-needed hope, miner Alex Vega said on the documentary: "I remember it was around 4am. It was obvious the drilling was getting closer. At one point we all started to stand up because it was deafening.

"Rocks appear and the air comes through."

Meanwhile, Victor Zamora, a fellow miner, recalled feeling like he'd been 'born again' when he saw the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

"It was like a bomb," he explained. "The drill broke through; It was like being born again."

Vega then went on to express in the documentary his delight that the 'drill broke through right where we were'.

Alex Vega was one of the miners who was trapped (National Geographic)

"It was absolute joy," he tearfully added. 'It was a miracle."

While that provided the miners with much-needed hope, it was another 52 days until they returned to the surface.

During that time, they were fed through narrow plastic tubes, before hot meals were sent down through containers once a rescue borehole was widened.

Officials even managed to send a TV down there so the miners could enjoy the latest sporting action.

It was until 13 October, 2010, some 69 days after they became trapped, when the 33 miners were rescued one by one in a specially built capsule.

The staggering event was live-streamed across the world, and a whopping 5.3 million people watched it online.

All 33 miners were successfully rescued, much to the delight of the entire world.

Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time premieres Saturday 26th September from 9pm on National Geographic, and also streams the same day on Disney+.