Last night Radio 5Live interviewed an American ex-miner who had been involved in the Sheppton, Pennsylvania, mine rescue of 1963. The rescue was a kind of pre-cursor of the Chilean one in that three miners were trapped in a very small space after a rockfall. They were a few hundred feet below ground and several test bores revealed nothing; the mine owners were prepared to give up but the families insisted that they were still alive and drilling continued with a microphone lowered to the end of each bore, Eventually, I can't remember how long, they got a response. Two men were alive, one had died. The rescuers managed to ream the bore to 19" but didn't have the gear to go any wider so - and this is the most amazing part - they lowered a redesigned parachute harness, the survivors greased themselves all over and were hauled up through the unlined shaft! The old fellow relating all of this was part of the team who carried out the rescue and he wrote a book about it afterwards. It's called 'The Sheppton Mine Rescue' and is still available on Abebooks but a bit expensive for me. A wonderful story and interview.