IN STEREO

Recently I almost suffered a terrible accident. I fell five metres from the pulley in the mine. I had drilled [from] the pulley earlier. I sparked [the dynamite] and left with my partner in the barrel, you see? [But] the washer was broken, so the two of us went [crashing] down again. We were stunned. I said, “Here is the end already.” I started to think about my wife and my children, what will happen to them. But so quick, just like that, in that moment I was looking for a way out. It was broken: the washer, cables, it was all down. And just a rope was there – more like, a rope had been thrown there, just in case. And that’s where we went out. We were expecting the explosion to hit. Now it is going to explode and it is going to get us, right now. My friend was in front of me. I was behind him and couldn’t go up. I grabbed the rope and I was pushing with my head.

In the end, [my friend] reached the top. And as soon as he reached it, he turned around and grabbed me by my neck, and helped me out, too. He helped me like in the movies, you know? I turned around as soon as I got out, and the shots began to explode: “Pow! Pow!” like that. I was scared and my other guy started to cry. I also wanted to cry and I started to think, “If I had died, that would have been my children.” My wife, maybe for a while. They would have cried. My children, my little ones would not have known me. And I felt sad, mate, [real] sad. “I can sell food here, whatever,” my wife always tells me, “Don’t go anymore.” But I have to overcome that fear. And when I saw [where] I went up: “How did I come up here?” I said. “I'm afraid of heights, how did I climb?” – Amilcar