A coal mining accident left him depressed and in ‘crippling’ pain. But this Utahn says the industry is worth saving.
Cody Potter first entered a coal mine at 18 years old. His grandfather and most of his uncles worked in coal mines, and he always looked up to them. In Emery County, he says, mining was one of few job options available for high school graduates.For the next 33 years, he would work in five different mines across Utah and Wyoming — until an accident left him with a life-altering diagnosis.
I was working on a belt line and destroyed the lower end of my back. I ended up pulling the sciatic nerve away from the support, and that’s how I ended up with what they call “Complex Regional Pain Syndrome.” Complex Regional Pain Syndrome typically knocks out one of your limbs. For me, it took my left leg out and movement of my left arm. For now I can walk, but I can’t walk far.
We had some accidents here, too, that take a real toll. At Genwal , I had just barely left whenand killed six. They’re still in there today. The mine rescue people went in to try to recover them, and it ended up killing three more. Some of my best friends that I worked with for 18 years are still in there.That’s the mining industry. It’s a very, very, very rough industry. But I worked around a lot of really good people. It’s in your blood.