Student gets new car after his was totaled following UK win over Florida

After the Kentucky Wildcats defeated the Florida Gators for the first time in 31 years on Saturday night, everyone in Big Blue Nation was ecstatic.

Well, almost everyone.

Matt O’Hara’s car fell victim to an act of celebration at the hands of exuberant Kentucky fans on State Street.

After Kentucky’s 27-16 victory over the Florida, several UK fans took to the streets to celebrate their team’s long-awaited win over the Gators. Kentucky hadn’t defeated Florida since 1986, and hadn’t won at The Swamp since 1979.

There were about 300 rowdy students who flooded State Street, and O’Hara’s car was flipped over. His mother, Amy Rademaker Given, seeking to help her son buy a new car, created a GoFundMe page to help raise $5,000 to purchase a new car for her him.

The page netted funds of $3,200, but that will no longer be needed. A Nicholasville car dealership stepped up in a big way and gave O’Hara a new car.

Given posted an update Monday on the GoFundMe to say that Big M Superstore in Nicholasville had donated a 2005 Mazda 3 to O’Hara.

“These guys are truly great Americans,” Given said in the post. “The kindness they showed to us is just amazing.”

Given said in the update that the family was discussing what to do with the funds that had already been raised on GoFundMe.

Kentucky fans have done some crazy things in the name of celebration over the years. They burned couches after UK won the 2012 NCAA Championship, and now have overturned a car following a victory 31 years in the making. No telling what will happen on the streets of Lexington when a UK sports team does something impressive.