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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With Randy Popernack

Aired July 28, 2002 - 08:39   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: As we've been telling you this morning, the nine coal miners who were trapped for three days were pulled to safety overnight. Jeff Flock has been there from the beginning to the end, and he is with one of the relatives of one of the rescued coal miners -- Jeff? Oh, I'm sorry. Actually, Jeff has left. Randy, is that you? Randy Popernack standing by?

RANDY POPERNACK, COUSIN OF MINER MARK POPERNACK: Yes.

CALLAWAY: We are glad you are with us today. We thought Jeff was still there. He's been there all night. Hopefully, he's gone home and is in bed now.

I can't imagine how you're feeling right now, with your cousin pulled to safety. I know you had no doubt all along that he is a tough guy and would make it through.

POPERNACK: Yeah. And we never gave up hope. We always had faith that they had the best teams on the pop, and that they would bring them up alive.

CALLAWAY: Tell us what Mark had to say about his ordeal down there. What has he told you?

POPERNACK: Well, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. They whisked him off to the hospital. I think they're in for observation for at least 24 hours to check them over, so I didn't get a chance to talk to him personally, but I will.

CALLAWAY: Can you tell us what it was like for your family, without knowing for so many days, whether or not he was alive? What got you through it?

POPERNACK: Well, I'm an ex-coal miner, too, so I knew whenever they sank the first six-inch steel down and they heard tappings -- I worked with three of the guys who were down there, and I knew whenever they tapped on the steels the first two days, they knew that we were up on top that they were coming after them. It was just all a matter of time. So that was the best sign that we had.

CALLAWAY: Mark is 41 years old. He's a tough guy, as you said. Was the last pulled to safety last night. That didn't surprise you either? POPERNACK: No, no. I knew he would be the last one. We come from a long line of ex-coal miners, so we knew that he'd be the last one to come up.

CALLAWAY: You really felt like he was going to make sure everyone else made it up that shaft before he jumped in, right?

POPERNACK: That's right.

CALLAWAY: Tell me a little bit...

POPERNACK: He's been in for 21 years, so he knows what is going on, along with the rest of the guys. They knew what was going on, too. So it was just a matter of time. Once the first one is up, they knew that it wouldn't be long now.

CALLAWAY: Randy, my goodness, 21 years. Tell us what you think the conditions were like for Mark down there, for those of us who don't know much about the coal mining business and what you face down there. What kind of situation was he in there?

POPERNACK: I don't know personally, but I can only guess that they probably had a space, from what I understand from EMSHAW (ph), about the size of a mobile home trailer, 70-by-12, about four-foot high, and to -- as a living space, so they made due with what they had to work with.

CALLAWAY: Any concern about this type of collapse, with a wall collapsing while the men were working down there? Certainly, this has to be now something that is going to be talked a lot about now, the safety of the mines there.

POPERNACK: Well, that was -- they knew where they were at from their survey crews and everything. It was just a matter of mine that was shut down in the '50s, not properly mapping that. That was where the problem lies, from what I understand.

CALLAWAY: How is your family doing now this morning?

POPERNACK: They're great -- now.

CALLAWAY: Well, you made it through and we are so happy for you. That is Randy Popernack, he is the cousin of Mark Popernack. We hope to hear back from you when you're able to speak with Mark, and I'm sure he has lots to tell you.

POPERNACK: I'm sure there are a lot of stories, yes.

CALLAWAY: We hope to be hearing them. Thank you, Randy.

POPERNACK: Thank you.

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