Australian miners tell of ordeal

Todd Russell and Brant Webb were able to walk out of the mine

Two Australian miners who were trapped underground for two weeks have been speaking on TV of their ordeal.

Todd Russell and Brant Webb told how they considered using a box cutter knife to amputate their trapped legs and wrote farewell notes on their skin.

The pair were trapped in the Tasmanian mine by a cave-in triggered by a small earthquake, which killed a colleague.

The men were reportedly paid A$2.6m ($2m) for the Nine Network interview and magazine rights to their stories.

The pair were working in a small cage, controlled by their colleague Larry Knight, who died, when the cave-in happened.

Click here for graphic of the rescue

"I yelled for Larry to get us out several times, three or four times," Mr Russell said. "I was screaming, screaming for Larry to get us out. There was no answer from Larry."

There was a couple of feet between us, but I couldn't see him Brant Webb

The two survivors were trapped up to their chests by rubble.

"I was getting towards my last breaths. The pressure was getting that bad around the chest and cavity areas... I was starting to vomit fluids," Mr Russell said.

Mr Webb said that they were both buried by so much rock that despite being close together, they could not see each other.

"There was a couple of feet between us, but I couldn't see him. I was buried. I was buried up to my armpits, so all I could do was say, 'look buddy we've got to hold on'," Mr Webb said.

"Brant and I we were prepared to take our leg off, if we had to, to have ourselves freed," he added, saying that they felt like "trapped rats".

Singing Kenny Rogers

Despite slipping in and out of consciousness, Mr Webb managed to slowly remove the rubble with his hands and cut off one of his boots with a knife to free himself, then help his partner.

"We had to control ourselves down there because if one of us lost it, how's the other guy going to survive?" said Mr Webb.

I said 'Look mate, if you don't settle down, I'm going to have to give you a kiss' Todd Russell

Once free the two men found that any further escape was blocked by a massive slab of stone.

They spent the next five days alone, licking water running down rocks to survive and chatting or singing the one song they both knew - The Gambler by Kenny Rogers - to keep their spirits up.

Mr Russell said he thought he was going to die, but was determined to carry on for the sake of his family.

"I said to myself, I am not dying here, I'm not dying here. It would take more than a bit of rock to stop me," he said.

Notes to families

Nonetheless, both men wrote farewell notes to their wives and families in case they did not survive. Lacking paper they used a ballpoint pen to scrawl messages on their skin and overalls.

Mr Russell said he used humour to stop his partner panicking in the tight confines of the cage, with one particular tactic working four times: "I said 'Look mate, if you don't settle down, I'm going to have to give you a kiss'," Mr Russell said.

After five days rescuers heard their voices, but the ordeal was far from over as it took another nine days to get them out.

The rescue effort transfixed the whole of Australia and the grit and good humour of the pair won them admiration all around the world.

As well as appearing on Australian TV they are also reportedly preparing to fly to New York for an interview with a US TV channel.

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