A stranger helped a woman across a flight from San Diego to Nashville in a random act of kindness caught on camera.
The older woman was travelling to meet her family for her birthday, but hadn’t flown in 15 years, and felt nervous about flying.
She explained that she hadn’t flown in a while to the young man sitting next to her, and asked if she could hold his hand if she felt nervous. He gladly agreed and comforted her by holding her hands.
Schofield posted the moment on Facebook, where it’s been shared more than 70,000 times.
“Upon take-off, she mentioned she hadn’t flown in 15 years and she was scared, and she said to the gentleman, “take my hand,” and he grabbed her hand,” Schofield said.
“On my flight from San Diego to Nashville today, sitting in the row next to me was a 96 year old woman who hasn’t flown in 15 years. For her birthday she wanted to go to Kansas City to see her family but she was scared of flying. She asked for this man’s hand during takeoff and then hugged him again when experiencing turbulence.
This gentleman I should say, gladly took her hand, let her hold onto him, calmed her by talking to her and explaining everything that was happening, and simply was that stranger there for her. He knew just what to do the entire flight to help. He helped her stand up to go to the restroom and watched her carefully walk down the aisle. It made me smile the whole flight as he comforted her.
This man was her flight angel. He held her bag, helped her get off the plane and into the wheelchair, and when she got confused wondering where her daughter went (she called her her sister), he stayed with her until she caught up with her daughter who got separated from her.
I walked away sobbing happy tears being so thankful for people like this wonderful human. She was so grateful that she wanted him to have her flight pretzels. 😇Hats off to you sir, for your kind heart and your compassion toward someone whom you’ve never met. I have never been so touched on a flight before. This truly made my week.💜”
Hundreds of thousands of hearts online have deeply appreciated the young man’s kindness.
“Sometimes we’re just so caught up in the hustle and bustle that we don’t always see who needs help.”
“This brought tears to my eyes! Thanks for sharing!” commented Ashley C.
“Aww, I’m sitting here crying as I’m reading this, what a beautiful soul this man is ❤️” wrote Sheri W.
“This should be in the Headlines of the Newspaper!” wrote Patti D.
“My heart is so filled 😭😭😭” commented Candice D.
“Thanks for sharing this. This is how our heavenly father wants for all of us to ehave. Wonderful blessed day indeed,” wrote Diana P.
The man in the photo, identified only as Ben, emailed Schofield, saying he was happy that such a simple moment could be so important to so many people.
Schofield was inspired to pay it forward. When he arrived at the airport for his flight home, he met an older woman who was preparing to board a flight.
“I could tell she was a little bit worried,” Schofield said. “She said, “I don’t fly, I drive,” so I walked her to her gate, and she gave me a big hug.”
