Chile's rescued miners arrived home as heroes after a 69-day ordeal deep underground during which they drank oil-contaminated water and set off explosives in a desperate bid to alert rescuers.
All but two of the 33 men left the hospital, returning to cheers after their stunning rescue on Wednesday from the collapsed mine in Chile's remote northern desert.
Few details of the horror of their ordeal have emerged. But Victor Segovia, known as the writer in the group who has already recorded some of the experience on paper, described it as a living nightmare.
"The good thing about being free is that when you have a bad dream you wake up and realise it was a dream. But inside (the mine), we would wake up in the nightmare," he said.
"We had problems, like in all families," he added. "A lot of time together. Problems started, arguments, but nothing serious."
The miners have became global media stars since their widely watched rescue and have been showered with job offers and gifts, including invitations to visit the Greek isles and Graceland and attend European soccer matches.
Ariel Ticona (29), whose third child, Esperanza or Hope, was born while he was trapped below, was showered with confetti as he arrived home to jubilant cheers from family and friends.
Asked what he had learned, he replied, "To value more the time I have to dedicate to my family," as he held his son in his arms.
Images of the men dancing and waving handkerchiefs in the depths of the mine during the country's bicentennial celebrations in September delighted the nation.
The men have declined to comment when asked to describe the hardest situations they faced during their ordeal. Some relatives have hinted at a pact of silence among the men over the worst of the trauma.
Chilean president Sebastian Pinera has challenged the men to a friendly soccer match later this month after the first wave of festivities.
Edison Pena (34), an athlete who ran 10km a day through the mine's tunnels to cope with stress after the collapse, said he had not expected to see his home again. "I didn't think I'd make it back, so this reception really blows my mind," he said. "We really had a bad time."
The men burned tires in the first days after the collapse, hoping the smoke would reach the surface and alert rescuers, and set off explosives in an effort to be heard.
"The worst moment was the second collapse, when the mine was closed off completely. I thought I wouldn't see my wife again, I wouldn't see my son born," 27-year-old miner Richard Villarroel said. "When I prayed, I prayed for them."
Mr Villarroel said they tried scrambling up air shafts and burning tires to alert rescuers on the surface. Realising they could be trapped for some time, they restricted themselves to two scoops of tuna and half a cracker daily.
When the first sounding drill reached them on August 22nd, the men were taking a bite of food every couple of days. When their reserves of bottled water dwindled to 10 litres, the men began drinking from metal drums of water tainted with motor oil.
"We came together in the hard moments, when we had nothing, when we drank water that wasn't for drinking," rescued miner Franklin Lobos said.
The men are surprisingly healthy considering they were in a hot, dark tunnel for so long. One is being treated for pneumonia and others needed dental treatment.
Experts say the most lasting damage could be emotional and that recovery could be complicated by the public glare.
Despite the trauma, some of the miners said they planned to remain in the profession.
Alex Vega, the 10th miner pulled out of the mine on Wednesday, said: "I want to go back. ... I'm a miner at heart. It's something in your blood."
The miners were hoisted to the surface in a metal capsule in a rescue operation watched by hundreds of millions of people worldwide and which triggered celebrations across Chile.
A local singer-turned-businessman has given each of them $10,000, while Apple boss Steve Jobs has sent all of them an iPod. There also is the prospect of book and film deals. The Jamaican government has also offered the miners and their spouses a free holiday to help them recover.
When the mine caved in, the men were believed to have died in yet another of Latin America's litany of mining accidents. But rescuers found them 17 days later with a bore hole the width of a grapefruit.
That tiny hole became an umbilical cord used to pass down hydration gels, water and food to keep them alive until a bigger shaft could be bored to bring them up.
In a complex but flawless operation under Chile's Atacama desert, the miners were hauled out one by one through 625m of rock in a metal capsule little wider than a man's shoulders and dubbed "Phoenix" after the mythical bird that rose from the ashes.
A top government official said the rescue operation cost about $18 million and suggested the capsule - painted red, blue and white, like the Chilean flag - might go on a world tour.