Sim Chi Yin CHINA. 2012. Ever since former gold miner He Quangui, 41, became ill 10 years ago, his wife Mi Shixiu, 36, has had to take care of his every need and the family. When he is too sickly to walk, she
(...) carries him, even up flights of stairs. Mr He, who once weighed 65kg, is now barely 44kg. They have a very close relationship, and are "still like two teenagers who just fell in love", as a relative put it to me. They sing and horse around together, tease each other and banter. "I don't hope that he will be well enough to work again, but if he is just there every day when I get back, just to chat with me, I'm already very happy," says Madam Mi, who has been married to Mr He since she was 18.
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Dying to breathe: former gold miner He Quangui is slowing dying of silicosis - a irreversible but preventable disease he contracted from years of working in small, unregulated gold mines in the Henan province, central China. Ten years after he was diagnosed with silicosis, he is fighting for his life, fighting to keep breathing. In this illness, a type of pneumoconiosis - China's most prevalent occupational disease afflicting millions - silica dust sucked into the lungs during years of blasting rock causes the miner's lungs to harden and eventually fail. Workers who can get good health care and remove themselves from the harmful environment -- particularly those who worked for state mines -- can live a normal person's lifespan. But most of the growing number of victims in China today are migrant workers like Mr He, with no insurance, good healthcare or legal recourse. They typically die in their 30s, leaving families with no sole breadwinners, wives with no husbands, children without fathers. © Sim Chi Yin | Magnum Photos