Posted on 10/10/2010 11:19:30 AM PDT by rellimpank
About 30 years ago, when we still had working mines, I interviewed a member of the Mine Rescue Team from Lake County, which had just won a regional contest.
He mentioned a recent exploit. A rock collector had not contented himself with the waste dump of an abandoned mine, but had proceeded to the shaft collar and started down the wooden ladder inside.
The rotten rungs collapsed. Down went the collector. After he was reported missing, his vehicle was found near the shaft. My informant had drawn the short straw, so down he went on a rope to retrieve the body.
It was awful down there, he said: rocks crumbling, water dripping, jagged pieces of wood and metal stabbing at him. And I'll always remember his conclusion: "I have to wonder why we go to all that trouble to get a body out of the ground when they're just going to stick it in another hole in the ground."
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
He makes a good point about signing off on having your body searched for. OTOH, the missing person may be alive against all odds.
You’ve said the important thing here: people do survive, sometimes against incredible odds, in situations where they should be dead. No one of us wants to be written off as dead without a search. Agreed?
Agreed.
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