Dad photographed sleeping under sick son's crib says he was 'just being a father'

YORK, Pa. (KABC) -- A dad, who is being called "father of the year," is speaking out after a photo of him sleeping under his infant son's crib melted hearts on the internet.

In the viral photo, Andre Palmer is seen curled up on a cold tile floor while his son AJ sleeps soundly in the crib above him.

"I was extremely exhausted at that time," he told KPVI-TV.

When Palmer found out his 1-year-old son was in the hospital for severe asthma, he rushed to be with him after working all night. Palmer had nowhere to sleep in AJ's room as his wife was already napping in a chair, so he simply passed out under the crib.

"I was like, you know what, they're asleep. I'm not going to ask her to try to move over a little bit," he said.

The picture was posted to Facebook and exploded in popularity. People around the world - from Mexico to Australia - now give him the title "dad of the year."

"For me, it's just a picture of me being a father," he said. "There's parents asleep in hospitals month after month."