My uncle was an underground miner who worked for decades in Crowsnest Pass coal mines. He was a tough, stocky man, accustomed to hard work and an unforgiving life. As he was dying in the Pincher Creek hospital, a nurse tried to wash his hands, blackened by a lifetime of exposure to coal dust. He endured the scrubbing for a while and finally bluntly told the nurse “the coal’s not on me, it’s in me.” Indeed, coal dust was imbedded in his skin. Read More
