Miner Becomes Famous for Taking His 3-Year-Old Son to His First Basketball Game, Even Though He Was Covered in Coal Dust
As kids, we often don’t see the sacrifices our parents make for us. But as grown-ups, we can look back and see just how much they did for us. This young boy will never forget when his dad showed up for his first basketball game. Despite being covered in coal dust from a hard day at the mines, the dad was determined to be there for his son. This is the heartwarming story of Michael Joe Mcguire.
John Calipari’s photo from the Kentucky Wildcats’ «blue-white scrimmage» game has gone viral, melting hearts on Twitter.
Heroes come in many forms and don’t always don a cape. Such was the case at the Kentucky Wildcats’ «blue-white scrimmage» game, where Head Basketball Coach John Calipari spotted something unusual in the crowd. He saw a coal miner who had brought his son to the game, and the sight stirred something in John’s memory. He took a picture of the father-son duo and posted it on Twitter, with a heartfelt caption.
The tweet has received over 160,000 likes and numerous comments, including one from the man’s wife. Mollie Gail McGuire wrote, «This is my husband, Michael McGuire, with our son Easton!» It appears that Michael was up since 4:45 a.m., rushing home from a hard day of work to join his family at the basketball game. Mollie expressed her gratitude and wrote, «We are truly blessed to have such an amazing man in our lives. We are beyond thankful and love our coal miner.»
Micheal McGuire from Pikeville attended his son Easton’s first basketball game after work, not wanting to miss a moment.
Micheal informed WKYT that the journey from his workplace to the basketball game would take approximately 45 minutes, and he did not wish to be late for his 3-year-old son’s debut game. He added, «It was either go straight there, or miss half the game to go home and take a shower and everything.»
It wasn’t until a day after the game that he became aware of his viral fame on social media. The family apparently went directly home and Michael prepared for another early morning, with his phone turned off until the end of work. When he resurfaced, he was greeted with rounds of applause from his colleagues.
A 29-year-old miner, who had been working in the mines for about a year, said that at first he thought someone was playing a trick on him. «Shew, it caught me off guard big-time,» he said. «Everybody was saying, ‘There comes the celebrity! There comes the famous guy!’ I had no clue what was going on.»
He powered on his phone, which was flashing with a barrage of texts, missed calls, and interview offers. «I couldn’t believe that it was real,» Micheal said. «It’s mind-blowing that everybody came together like that.»