West Virginia Coal Miners

[PHIL HERNON]

God bless these guys.............more deaths.......

 

[Steel4u]

Ya very sad. Very dangerous work. After all these years just doesnt seem any safer.

 

[Ashop]

I feel for these guys,,this is some of the toughest work known to man. I wish them the best.

 

[hghanadrol1]

Thanks for all the prayers and support guys..I'm from West Virginia and live about 35 min away from Whitesville, which is where the accident happened...

 

[killbill]

That's horrible. Those guys risk so much to provide for their families. I seems as though it's a higher risk job than say firefighting. God bless the workers and families.

 

[hotttsauce]

Mountaineer here too. Such a shame a company like Massey Energy can get away with so much in this state. Their workers comp claims and safety violations are outrageous. And the way the employees are treated is ridiculous.

These miners go down into the middle of a mountain and do extreme work in unbelievable conditions. Remember the next time you flip a light switch on what it REALLY costs.

God bless them and their families.

 

[New_Mass]

God bless

 

[pesty4077]

Being form PA, I had some friends who were coal miners. A hard and difficult job that goes unrewarded. God bless the familys.

 

[Bolan]

Yeah from what i hear, that company has had a bad rap.

They better have a good Lawyer.

 

[scrapper13]

these guys never get the respect they deserve, mining is one of the toughest and dangerous jobs around. god bless them and their families

 

[sundance]

I am from West Virginia .I am a retired UMWA underground coal mining electrician .I quit working in the coal mines in 1984 due to a accident and had to be rehabilitated for another occupation [Industrial construction electrician ].I worked at another mines that Massey had part ownership in .We refused to work non-union and they closed the mine down in October 1984 to never be re-opened again .The mines I worked at had the highest accident and fatality rate than any other coal mines in West Virginia .The occupation underground with the most accidents were electricians .I have had so many accidents that I can not remember all of them or care to remember them .I have probably broke most every bone in my body at least once .Every thing we had to do was heavy,dirty and greasy .The dust conditions in the production sections was totally unbearable quite often .I could not even see 3 ft in front of me for all the dust .The average life span of a underground coal miner back then was 45 to 48 .There was no such thing as a old coal miner .

I was buried alive right before my 22nd birthday .I was totally paralyzed .I could not talk .I permanently lost all my hearing in my left ear .Became legally deaf after that .I got so addicted to morphine and heroin .I did not think I would ever be able to quit .I went back to work 2 years later against my doctors advice .I was still limping on my right leg and still had not fully got my ability to talk again either .Something that took me another 10 years or more to overcome .I had countless more accidents after that .

It only by the grace of God I am still alive .

May god bless the miners that died recently and their family's and all those that died in vain before this most recent accident.

 

[Michaelthomasj]

I am from West Virginia .I am a retired UMWA underground coal mining electrician .I quit working in the coal mines in 1984 due to a accident and had to be rehabilitated for another occupation [Industrial construction electrician ].I worked at another mines that Massey had part ownership in .We refused to work non-union and they closed the mine down in October 1984 to never be re-opened again .The mines I worked at had the highest accident and fatality rate than any other coal mines in West Virginia .The occupation underground with the most accidents were electricians .I have had so many accidents that I can not remember all of them or care to remember them .I have probably broke most every bone in my body at least once .Every thing we had to do was heavy,dirty and greasy .The dust conditions in the production sections was totally unbearable quite often .I could not even see 3 ft in front of me for all the dust .The average life span of a underground coal miner back then was 45 to 48 .There was no such thing as a old coal miner .

I was buried alive right before my 22nd birthday .I was totally paralyzed .I could not talk .I permanently lost all my hearing in my left ear .Became legally deaf after that .I got so addicted to morphine and heroin .I did not think I would ever be able to quit .I went back to work 2 years later against my doctors advice .I was still limping on my right leg and still had not fully got my ability to talk again either .Something that took me another 10 years or more to overcome .I had countless more accidents after that .

It only by the grace of God I am still alive .

May god bless the miners that died recently and their family's and all those that died in vain before this most recent accident.

Holy shit...that is some story. sorry to hear all you have been through, and this recent tragedy as well. god bless you all

 

[Blakemore]

I am a WV coal miner and to hear the bad news that happened to these guys really bummed me out and everyone at the mine where i work. It is a dangerous job but an awesome living, but i couldn't imagine what these guys would be going through right now, pray for them as we all hope they are alive. And by the way sundance, UMWA is the way to go, so much safer man. Local 1638 Mcelroy mine, Consol Energy

 

[machola]

God bless the miners and their families

 

[HHS_REBEL]

I live literally less than 30 minutes away from the site of this mines. I hate watching the news all the time simply because of the fact that there are so many mining accidents. My father has almost lost his life numerous times. He has been a miner since he was 16 years old and he was forced to retire last year at 49. He has black lung disease, hearing loss, and just got over Hodgkin's disease due to the excessive amount of radon seeping through the ground and into people's own homes. This line of work is horrible, but you know what? It is what keeps this country running. Without us miners from our little hick-ass towns there wouldn't be enough electricity for anything.