Savannah Phillips had never been comfortable flying— but it wasn’t due to a fear of heights.
“I’m not the biggest person on the plane, but I’m not the smallest,” she explained in a Facebook post.
“My worst nightmare is someone being uncomfortable because they have to sit next to me.”
To avoid this nightmare, Savannah usually tries to sit alone. But, unfortunately, on a flight to Chicago this past May, her plan didn’t work out.
“My seat was assigned at the gate,” she said. “When we boarded, I was sitting next to an older guy who said he was a comedian. He looked like he was in his 60s and had on bright yellow sunglasses.”
For a while, everything was fine, but right before the plane took off, the man did something unexpected.
Pulling out his cell phone and typing in an extremely large font, the man wrote the following message twelve inches from Savannah’s face:
“Hey babe, I can’t believe this. I’m sitting next to a smelly fatty.
“I can’t even put my armrest down. I’m going to vomit.”
The woman was devastated.
“I don’t even know what the rest of the text said,” she said. “I turned my head away as fast I could. I was shocked, and it was like confirmation of the negative things I think about myself on a daily basis.”
“Before I knew it, I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face.”
Savannah didn’t know what to do, but as it turns out, she wouldn’t have to do anything— another passenger had seen it all and was about to become her knight in shining armor.
Chase Irwin had been sitting across the aisle and couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
In an interview with NewsChannel 5, he said: “I was going to wait until the end of the flight to say something, but I could not have this guy sit next to her this whole flight with her thinking he’s making of her.”
“It really gets me deep down when I see someone crying, and when I saw her crying it really hit me hard, and I actually got sick to my stomach.”
Disgusted by the man’s actions, Chase stood up and tapped him on the shoulder. He proceeded to tell the man he would be switching seats with him.
“You are texting about her, and I’m not putting up with that,” Savannah recalled him saying.
Afterward, Savannah said Chase spent the rest of the flight making her feel better: “He said not to let it get to me and not to worry. We started making small talk which made me feel better.”
After the flight, Savannah was still so grateful for the man’s actions, she made a Facebook post to thank him, hoping he would be recognized.
The Good Samaritan acknowledged Savannah within less than an hour. In an interview with NewsChannel 5, she said:
“I was so blessed and happy he was there.”
“I hope it sets a good example for others for what they should do in situations like that and to stick up for people when they need help.”
When Savannah shared her story, the post immediately went viral.
It currently has more than 1.8k shares, and comments on the photo read:
“I’m glad this story was told so the world could see what a beautiful person you are Savannah and what an awesome guy Chase is.”
“You are so beautiful! And that man was so mean! I’m so thankful that God sent an angel to sit beside you.”
“Wish there were more people like Chase. God sent you an Angel. Thank you for sharing.”
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