Photo of Kentucky coal miner taking son to basketball game after work goes viral

PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WPDE) — The photo of a Kentucky coal miner taking his son to a Kentucky Wildcats basketball game in his dirty work clothes is going viral on social media.

The sweet moment was captured by UK basketball head coach John Calipari.

Calipari said he did not know the name of the man in the photo but had heard the man raced to the University of Kentucky to be with his son after his shift.

Michael McGuire's wife, Mollie, said he is an employee of Excel mining and was at work until after 5 p.m. which gave him less than an hour to make the 6 p.m. game.

“My husband chose the job he has to support our family so that I could be home to raise our wonderful children, there are many times he misses out on these events due to work. So any chance he can be there he is, no matter how tired or dirty,” she wrote on Facebook.

The tweet by Calipari had been shared nearly 16,000 times as of Monday.

He also offered the family VIP tickets for the game at Rupp Arena.According to ESPN, Calipari was able to get in contact with Mollie.