A Kentucky coal miner is seen rushing to watch a basketball game with his son. He was seen on the field in a disheveled appearance and wearing charcoal-clad work clothes.
The photo of father and son has gone viral and caught the attention of University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari, who told a press conference on Tuesday that she had hit “completely between his eyes,” according to CBS News.
According to CBS News, Calipari was eventually able to get in touch with Michael McGuire, the coal miner, and his family.
McGuire’s wife, Mollie, told the coach:
It’s hard work, but it makes enough money that I don’t have to work. He is a great father. I’ve done it several times.
Calipari said that McGuire wanted to be in the game so badly, “He was ready to go without showering, unchanged, he just got in his car and drove off because he got out of the mine late.”
He added:
It wasn’t about that. He wanted to be there with his son. That’s why he did it.
According to the coach, hotels and restaurants have been offering free dinners to coal miners since the photo went viral. Even a car dealer gave him and his family a new car.
Calipari commented:
Wouldn’t it be nice for someone like that, a quiet, humble man, to know that people appreciate you, and we appreciate what you stand for? And I appreciate it because of how my family got its start in this country. The American dream began in a coal mine in Clarksburg, West Virginia.
People are agreeing with Calipari online.
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