Young boy coal miner (Ian Macdonald)

I am 9 years old and work in a coal mine. I work 10 hours per day. Ten hours is what it takes to not be able to breathe after work. You spend 2 hours just trying to cough out the anthracite and coal dust so you stop wheezing. We never have time for school, and the older you get, the more dangerous the jobs. My father died when I was 2, his lungs gave out because he couldn't take so many years of poor air quality. Last week, my brother was transporting mules down the mine shafts on his own alone, and a boulder fell on his legs. He was trapped in the dirty water on the ground and couldn't get up. He drowned alone with nobody there to help. Some boys go to school after work, but we are all so tired that education is useless. We are destined to the mine shafts until we die. My family had no choice. We owned a farm but because of the industrial revolution, our farm was no longer as important. A new large farm was made 10 miles away that everyone could buy from for cheaper. My mother had to have my brother and I work in the coal mines. Life was fine beforehand, now I need to worry about living through the day. The world has become dangerous.