A freakish team-building experience

CAN you imagine being buried alive 900 meters below the ground?

It was Meralco cager Gary David’s most frightening experience as he and the rest of the team were trapped inside the tunnel of Philex Mining Corp. in Benguet on the day Supertyphoon “Yolanda” battered central Philippines last week.

“The expedition was part of our preseason team building,” explained David. “Through an elevator, we were brought 900 meters down the tunnel, and were given a tour of the huge cave. We were also shown how to cull raw gold.”

He pulled his iPhone out of his pocket.

“This is how it looks,” he said, showing a video of the raw chunk of gold. “They gave us some to take home as souvenirs.”

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Inside the tunnel, it was like the players did a morning workout.

“We did a lot of walking inside, going through the entire length and back. One lap was 800 meters. We did three. We got really tired,” David said.

Having experienced being inside a mine tunnel, the group, headed by coach Ryan Gregorio and team manager Butch Antonio,  got ready to be lifted back to higher ground.

“We were gathered by the elevator base, waiting for the elevator to come down when suddenly, the lights went out,” David said. A chill went through our spine. There was darkness, and only the tiny lamp in our helmets provided faint illumination.

“We had no idea what caused the blackout and how long it would last. We didn’t even know if we would be able to get out without electricity to power the elevator.”

* * *

After about 30 minutes and with no indication that power would be restored, the players became tense and restless.

“We were tired and hungry, it was pitch black, and the air inside the cave was thinning. It was really scary,” he said.

Said Gregorio: “We were trapped inside the cave for about an hour—actually we had lost track of time—when finally rescue arrived. A truck came for us and we were brought to another exit away from the elevator. We left the tunnel without the power being restored.

“Although blinded by the sudden burst of sunshine when we got out of the tunnel, we still considered ourselves extremely lucky—we were not in the elevator when the lights went out. Otherwise, we would have been trapped in the elevator, a worse scenario.”

The incident definitely bonded the team, according to Gregorio, who now sports long hair.

During the Awards Night of the PBA Press Corps early this week, Gregorio told scribes he won’t have a haircut until Meralco wins a championship.