Mum Praises Flight Attendant for Comforting Her Young Daughter on Flight

A flight attendant has been praised for his kindness when he comforted a nine-year-old girl having a severe anxiety attack on a plane flight.

Mum Erika Jeorgean Swart has shared to the world how Southwest Airlines employee Garrick went above and beyond to comfort her daughter, Gabby, who suffers from type 1 diabetes and became distressed on flight.

Ms Swart took to Facebook to thank Garrick for his patience and kindness when her family was flying from Orlando to Newark in the US last July 8. She wrote on Southwest Airline’s Facebook page that Garrick made an effort to put her daughter at ease during the flight.

“Upon take off he noticed she was struggling. Throughout the flight he tried making her laugh and bringing her special drinks,” she wrote.

Aside from that, Ms Swart praised Garrick even more when Gabby began having a complete panic attack on descent due to the turbulence. This is when Ms Swart snapped a photo of her daughter and Garrick.

“He came up to the front and asked if she would like for him to sit next to her in the empty seat. I was flying without my husband with two other smaller children and couldn’t leave my row, in the photo she is holding my hand from across the aisle. She happily accepted his offer,” she said.

Ms Swart said that Garrick suggested to her daughter that they talk to distract her from thinking about the landing, and so, they both talked for around 30 minutes “about everything from his daughter who is the same age to her pets to what grade she is going into.”

However, the extremely rough turbulence caused Gabby to cry, grabbing Garrick’s arm. Ms Swart said she was touched when Garrick gently told her daughter she could hang on as long as she needed to.

Due to the extreme stress she was under, Ms Swart said that Gabby’s blood sugars began dangerously crashing. Then, Garrick got up from his seat to get her an orange juice and came right back to sit with her. She said that Gabby again asked him if she could hold his arm, and he agreed.

When they were finally on the ground, Garrick went to the intercom and announced that “his friend, Gabby, in the front row overcame her fears of flying and asked for a round of applause,” and the passengers of the entire plane clapped for her.

“It was a wonderful experience on Southwest. We are forever grateful to have met such a beautiful, selfless soul,” she wrote.

Upon learning that he was being praised, Garrick said he had mixed emotions, as he didn’t think he was doing anything out of the ordinary, but knew he had to help the little girl.

“There were three connections that happened during this flight between Gabby and I. 1. She believed I cared.  2. She believed I could help. 3. She believed she could trust me,” he said, and added, “I honestly believe if I continue to grow and live like this and if others can do the same, we might just actually see change,” he said.

The post has now gained more than 41,000 reactions and over 3,700 shares.

Source: Kidspot.com.au