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Building the Panama Canal had a huge human cost2024 Nov 11
Sometimes relegated as a mere footnote to the Panama Canal's construction, the project claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured an uncounted swath more. Lost limbs were such a frequent occurrence that a charity in New York was created specifically to send artificial legs to Panama. But the conditions for receiving the replacement limbs were strict, and many lives were left in tatters. Quoting directly a 1913 appeal from one of the laborers, Wilfred McDonald, from either Barbados or Jamaica:
I have ben Serveing the ICC [Isthmian Canal Commission] and the PRR [Panama Railroad] in the caypasoity as Train man From the yea 1906 until my misfawchin wich is 1912. Sir without eny Fear i am Speaking Nothing But the Truth to you, I have no claim comeing to me. But for mercy Sake I am Beging you To have mercy on me By Granting me a Pair of legs for I have lost both of my Natrals. I has a Mother wich is a Whido, and too motherless childrens which During The Time when i was working I was the only help to the familys.
Sometimes relegated as a mere footnote to the Panama Canal's construction, the project claimed tens of thousands of lives and injured an uncounted swath more. Lost limbs were such a frequent occurrence that a charity in New York was created specifically to send artificial legs to Panama. But the conditions for receiving the replacement limbs were strict, and many lives were left in tatters. Quoting directly a 1913 appeal from one of the laborers, Wilfred McDonald, from either Barbados or Jamaica: