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Gracious man being praised for allowing kids to jump in front of him at Panthers Fan Fest

"I gave them my row, It was like I had three seats -- give it to them and let them just do what they want to do"

CHARLOTTE, NC. -- A photo taken by Roaring Riot at Panthers Fan Fest quickly went viral over the weekend.

The photo shows a man, allowing kids to get in front of him to get autographs from Panthers players. Sergio Torruellas had great seats -- front row.

Roaring Riot is looking for this generous man at Panthers Fan Fest

Torruellas told NBC Charlotte he was completely unaware of that viral photo.

"It was crazy, it was crazy Torruellas said. "They were like 'they're looking for you on Twitter, they're looking for you on Twitter.' And I'm like I don't have Twitter, I don't know what you're talking about."

Torruellas said a man from Roaring Riot eventually called him and said: "I think you're an awesome guy and you did a great thing this weekend and everybody appreciates what you did' and it just took me out of left field," Torruellas said.

Torruellas said he was most surprised about his new-found fame because this was something he normally does.

"It's just something that you normally do. You just do the right thing for the kids, it's about the kids," Torruellas said.

Torruellas said once he saw two little girls trying to fight past a crowd to get an autograph from the Panthers players -- he called them to his row.

"I gave them my row, It was like I had three seats -- give it to them and let them just do what they want to do,"Torruellas told NBC Charlotte.

Torruellas said he moved out of their way and just let them have fun, he even had to block some unruly fans from trying to push past the kids.

"And I had to put my foot up so the big adults won't come and bombard the kids and try to take autographs away from the kids. Because if you see that whole section I've got all the kids all lined up."

Torruellas, a single father to his son Andrew, told NBC Charlotte it was just pure luck that he got the front row seats to Panthers Fan Fest. He actually bought the tickets off of Craigslist.

"Someone was selling the front row seats and I knew I had to buy them [for Andrew.]

Torruellas said he was grateful Roaring Riot snapped that now viral photo because he wasn't even able to see the pure joy from those kids.

"I was busy taking photos myself of him, you know and trying to document the day and make memories for him, so I had no idea what was going on," Torruellas said.

Roaring Riot has reached out to Torruellas and is sending him and his son some Panthers gear.


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