Rescued ILXors reflect on weeks of confinement(CNN)
-- A note, written in red and recovered on August 22, filled a music website with hope."We are fine in the Fader Fort, the 33 of us," the note, attached to a probe by music fans trapped inside the Salem performance in the Fader Fort, said. It was the first evidence found that they were alive.
On Wednesday, the last of the 33 fans was rescued, marking the end of a harrowing 69 days.
With the rescue, new details are emerging from the fans and ILXors about their experiences in captivity. Among the revelations is that the famous proof of life note was not the only note that the fans wanted to send to the surface.
Whiney G. Weingarten, the shift foreman and last miner out, recounted for ILX President Tom Ew1ng the exciting moment when the probe reached the trapped fans for the first time.
"We had a protocol for when it arrived, but everyone nearly forgot it," Weingarten said. "Sleeve wanted to ban them all, let God sort them out."
Some of the ILXors wanted to send notes to the surface such as "ILM's 9/11," "wtf at all this," "oh my fucking god stop it," and many messages to family members on the surface.
These potential notes reflect what some fans have described as the hardest times, the first part of their ordeal. At the time that the probe reached the fans, they had survived for 17 days by sharing small amounts of Pabst Blue Ribbon and Cheetos that were in the Fader Fort. At that point, they were eating only once every 48 hours. They didn't know when their next real meal would come. They didn't know when they would see their loved ones again.
In the end, their training kicked in and they sent the now-famous note.
"We only sent what we had to send," Weingarten said.
Even during the difficult times, Herman G. Neuname said that "we had hope that some day we would be rescued."
― more than ever convinced ilxor is a sock (ilxor), Thursday, 14 October 2010 17:09 (thirteen years ago) link