A man is being hailed a “flight angel” for comforting as well as lending a helping hand to a 96-year-old woman who was traveling alone for the first time in 15 years.
A passenger on the Southwest Airlines flight from San Diego to Nashville, Megan Ashley, shared on Facebook earlier this month the kind act she witnessed.
In her post, she shared an elderly woman was flying to Kansas City to see her family for her birthday but was afraid of flying. Thankfully, the man seated next to her was happy to help.
“She asked for this man’s hand during takeoff and then hugged him again when experiencing turbulence,” Ashley’s post reads. “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.”
Ashley’s post explains that the man — whose name is yet to be known — looked out for the entire duration of the flight.
“He helped her stand up to go to the restroom and watched her carefully walk down the aisle,” she wrote. “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, he stayed with her until she caught up with her daughter who got separated from her.”
Ashley wrote in her post “walked away sobbing happy tears” because she was so thankful for the man’s “heart and compassion.”