London, 1850. Annie is 7. She scavenges in the Thames at low tide. The river is raw sewage from 2 million people. She wades through it barefoot, searching for coal, rope, bones—anything worth a penny. Her hands are cut and infected. Cholera lives in this water. Last week a boy died from an infected cut. She earns 3 pence a day. It’s the difference between eating and starving. She’ll die at 14 of cholera from the river that fed her. This was survival. #Mudlark #VictorianLondon #London1850 #ThamesHistory #childpoverty