Chilean Miner "Super Mario": Prankster, Leader

Chilean miner Mario Sepulveda was a prankster but also a spiritual leader to the group of 33 men that spent more than seven weeks trapped together underground before being rescued last week.

Sepulveda took a leadership role immediately, guiding his fellow miners even as the mine was still collapsing around them.

"I told the men, 'There's no escape. We need to remain in this shelter. God is here with us. Whoever wants to save themselves, take His hand,'" Sepulveda recalled in an interview with "Good Morning America" Monday.

Chile Mine Rescue: Complete Coverage

Amid infighting, anxiety - even worries about turning to cannibalism - Sepulveda tried to keep the men's spirits up, and led daily prayers. "Down there, we were all … one religion," he said.

Sepulveda recalled celebrating with the other miners when the drills first broke through into their shelter, giving them a lifeline to the outside world long before they could actually be rescued.

"It was a miracle," he said.

For the next seven weeks, he played jokes, dancing and at one point pretending to be dead.. He continued to lead prayers. But mostly he wanted what all of the miners wanted: to be rescued and reunited with his family.

He was the second miner to emerge from a rescue capsule sent down thousands of feet and had one of the most bombastic reactions to his newfound freedom, earning him the nickname "Super Mario."

"He spent much of this past weekend falling in love again with his wife, Katty, dancing with his daughter, Scarlette, and reading the goodbye letter he wrote to his son, Franco, when he thought he was going to die," ABC News reported.

"I will miss you, son," he wrote in the letter. "But I am tranquil and happy, because as I leave this earth, I know you will be in the good hands of your mother."