Grandson Helping a Retired Coal Miner Through The Last Few Years of his life

An arresting image that captures a grandson’s love for his grandfather has been breaking hearts on Reddit today.

The black-and-white picture from Dan and Mark Jury’s 1976 book ‘Gramp’ has been raking in upvotes and comments on Reddit since user jdk posted it this morning.

Grandson helping a retired coal miner through the last few years of his life

‘Gramps’ details the final years of coal miner Frank Tugend’s life, which he spent in the care of his family. Tugend suffered from generalized arteriosclerosis in the years before his death and required assistance from his grandsons for virtually every task.

In the photo, Dan Jury is seen cradling his grandfather in the year 1974.

The Jurys managed to capture not only the fragility of Tugend’s life in those final days but also the continuing strength of his spirit. The Good Books Blog shared this excerpt from the book, which is no longer in print:

“On February 11, 1974, Frank Tugend, aged eighty-one and of dubiously sound mind- but certainly of sound body – removed his false teeth and announced he was longer going to eat or drink. Three weeks later to the day, he died.”

Sources: Reddit, Huffington Post

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