What would you do when you see a distressed mother who just wanted to go home but the airline would not allow her to board?
Stephanie just wanted to fly to Stansted to visit her family in the UK from Ibiza, where she now lives.
It’s not easy to fly during this pandemic and it was even harder to fly with small and young children (she has nine-year-old twin boys and a one-year-old son).
Unfortunately, her airline added more grief and anxiety to her situation.
Ryanair had initially told her at the Ibiza airport that she didn’t need to check in her bag. Later, the airport staff told her her bag was too big and she didn’t need to check it in.
“The plane was half-full so I couldn’t understand why they couldn’t take my bag or put it in the hold,” Stephanie shared.
And to make matters worse, the staff she had to pay $65 (£50) to check in the bag and she can only pay with a credit card.
Stephanie didn’t have a card, she only had cash with her. But they wouldn’t allow her to pay with cash.
“I was told I had to pay [with a] card but I only had cash with me, so paying it was impossible. I don’t travel a lot and it’s been a long time since I’ve been on the plane, plus with everything that’s going on, you can see on the video that I’m quite anxious,” Stephanie recalled.
Stephanie didn’t know what to do until this knight-in-shining-armor stepped up to help her.
He offered to pay the baggage fee with his card.
Stephanie couldn’t believe it.
“This kind man turned around and said he would pay for me – it was an amazing act of kindness that he really didn’t need to do. He literally came out of nowhere, it was a crazy experience,” Stephanie said.
All Stephanie could do was just hold her head in her hands. Thank goodness for her sons who helped her take care of her youngest son.
The young man, her knight, turned to her and tried to reassure her while he waited to pay.
It’s so unbelievable what this man was doing for Stephanie and she couldn’t believe it.
“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for you,” the young man told her.
Twitter user, Cool Calm Poch, was able to capture the scene on video and posted it on his account.
“Well done to this young hero for paying the ridiculous Ryanair baggage charges for a distressed mother travelling with 3 kids (who wasn’t getting any leniency from ground staff). The flight from Ibiza to Stansted was half empty, not sure what difference a few cm would make,” Cool Calm Poch wrote on Twitter.
If it wasn’t for the young man, Stephanie and her children would not be able to visit her family.
He was sitting a few rows behind them but she couldn’t approach him because of Covid-19 restrictions. Afterward, she got in touch with Cool Calm Poch, who might know who the young man was but to no avail.
“Apparently he wants to remain anonymous,” Stephanie said. “I just want to have a chat with him because I don’t think he realizes how nice a gesture it was and how much it meant to me.”
Twitter users who watched the video lauded the act of kindness of this young man.
There were some cynical and negative comments but thankfully, the positive comments drowned them out.
So many comments came in lauding him for his good deed.
What would you have done if you were on the same flight as Stephanie? Would you do the same?
Click the video below to watch the exchange between Stephanie and this young man.
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