I lied with bandaged face and hands. It was a miracle that I got off that cheap! The blow fell on the scoop. I was hit mainly on the helmet. It saved me. However the doctor for two hours pulled pieces of coal from my face with tweezers. Then, still in the hospital, they picked the remain. And I went home, to the hostel where Margarita Emilievna came to look after me, she gave me to eat and drink with a spoon as my lips were smashed.
Nine days later I went to work, I did not want to go to the commission as the eardrum in the left ear was broken and they would not let me, deaf in one ear, work underground.
The hearing restored after about three months.