Sex, cannibalism, the cruel mind tricks: First interview with Chilean miner...

'For 14 days we were all in pitch darkness. There was no night and no day. We begged God to help us': The amazing first interview with one of the trapped Chilean miners

(By Caroline Graham, UK Mail Online) - He is the undisputed star of the Chilean mine rescue. When Mario Sepulveda became the second miner to surface after 69 days trapped half-a-mile below ground, his cheeky gift of souvenir rocks for the Chilean president combined with his wildly enthusiastic chants of ‘Viva Chile’ alongside his rescuers led to him being dubbed Super Mario on newspaper front pages around the world.

Since his rescue, the charismatic 40-year-old heavy-equipment operator has been deluged with lucrative media offers, including the chance to host his own Chilean TV show.

But yesterday Mario, speaking from his hospital bed before being released last night – leaving only one of the 33 in the care of doctors – spoke exclusively to The Mail on Sunday and revealed how his jaunty facade was hiding a man tormented by the ‘nightmare’ of what he and the others faced for the initial 17 days after they were trapped – fearing they would starve to death in their underground tomb.