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Survivor responds, remains critical

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - The youngest of the miners, the sole survivor of the mining disaster, is a quiet, religious man who risked the dangers of working underground - even though he was a licensed electrician - to earn more money for his family.

Randal McCloy Jr., 26, "was looking to get out" after working in the mine for three years, said his wife, Anna, who spoke as she awaited word on the miners. "It was too dangerous."

Lila Muncy, McCloy's younger sister, had said that before her brother went into the mine each day he told his wife, "God is with you." The couple had a 4-year-old son named Randal III and a 1-year-old daughter, Isabel.

"I know he was fighting to stay alive for his family because his family was his No. 1 priority," said Rick McGee, McCloy's brother-in-law and a fellow miner who lives next door to McCloy McCloy remained in critical condition Wednesday but was able to squeeze his wife's hand from his bed at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital, Dr. Lawrence Roberts said.

"Having been laying still for so many hours and being poorly hydrated for that period of time has resulted in some kidney dysfunction," Roberts said. "We assume that will be a temporary phenomenon while the kidneys recover."

His blood pressure, his heart rate and other laboratory tests "seem relatively normal," he added.

McCloy was undergoing dialysis treatment, and doctors were trying to inflate a collapsed lung. He was sedated to prevent him from removing a tube inserted in his throat to ease his breathing.

Because of the tube, McCloy cannot talk, but he is responding to his wife with facial expressions and by squeezing her hand, Roberts said.

His lung is expanding, but Roberts was unsure when the breathing tube may be removed, although he expected to reduce the sedation today. McGee said he also held McCloy's hand when he visited the hospital.

"There's not a mark on his face. There's not a mark on his arms. There's only a mark on his side," McGee said, describing a slight bruise. "It's a miracle he's out of there."

McCloy, a lover of fast cars, sports and hunting and fishing, is "a really smart person" who trained with McGee in the mines, he said.

Anna McCloy, looking pale and exhausted, attended the news conference at the hospital but did not answer questions.

"Just ask everybody to keep on praying," she said.

McCloy was rescued from the Sago Mine near Tallsmanville early Wednesday where he had been trapped with a dozen other miners for more than 42 hours.

He was one of the youngest miners. Most of the others were in their 50s. Roberts said McCloy's youth and good health were a factor in his survival.

A CT scan did not show any brain injuries, but doctors do not know yet how a lack of oxygen may have affected his brain function, Roberts said.

"Was he deprived of oxygen for a sufficiently long period of time? We don't know that," Roberts said. "That is something that time will tell."

Gayle Manchin, wife of Gov. Joe Manchin, spent time with the McCloys on Wednesday. She said mining and mine tragedies are part of the state's identity.

"Unfortunately, this is part of West Virginia history, so we understand that this is about prayer," she said.

[Last modified January 5, 2006, 01:19:08]