Dr. Francisco Nicola, the team physician, and his wife Esther. Dr. Nicola died in the crash.
The mothers of some players, including Nando Parrado’s mother Eugenia and his sister Susana.
Graziela Mariani, another passenger who was not part of the rugby team.
The practical significance of this composition is that the survival group was not simply a sports team with shared training, shared discipline, and established roles. It was a cross-section of Uruguayan middle-class society with different ages, different physical conditions, different skills, and different relationships to one another. The older passengers — Methol, Dr. Nicola, some of the mothers — brought different things to the group than the athletic young men. Some of these contributions were practical; some were social and emotional.
Javier Methol’s role in the group throughout the survival period is cited in multiple accounts as that of an older stabilizing presence — a man with life experience, calm under pressure, and a commitment to everyone’s survival that extended beyond his personal circumstances. He had lost his wife in the avalanche. He continued to contribute to the group. The quality of his contribution was possible not because he was a rugby player but because of who he was.
The composition also affected the distribution of physical capability within the group. The rugby players were generally younger and fitter and more able to perform the physical work of survival: digging, trekking, carrying supplies. The older and more injured passengers were generally less able to perform this work. The distribution of the physical burden — who did which tasks — reflected this reality while maintaining the principle of collective care for everyone.