On October 12, the first rescue worker was sent downward to the miners, who greeted him with nervous relief. Soon, the first trapped miner was raised to the surface. One by one, the miners were brought up in the capsule to see the sunlight. Upon leaving the capsule, each miner was enthusiastically greeted, but they could not see their families right away. They had been trapped for so long that their first priority was to get medical attention. Luis Urzúa, who had taken a major role as a democratic leader while underground, was the last one to come up to the surface on October 13. The 69 days during which we tried so hard were not useless. We wanted to live for our families, and that was the greatest thing, Urzúa said to the Chilean people after his rescue. Then, the rescuers and the rescued began to sing the Chilean national anthem with the thousands of joyous people who came to support the operation, celebrating the heroics and the humanity of all those involved.