Sometimes you just need someone to hold your hand — literally.
Delta flight attendant Floyd Dean-Shannon, 44, drew attention online for going above and beyond to comfort a frightened passenger.
The heartwarming moment was captured on a flight from Charlotte to New York.
How a Flight Attendant Lent a Hand to an Anxious Passenger
In a Facebook post by Molly Simonson Lee, Dean-Shannon can be seen sitting in the middle of the plane aisle holding the hand of a passenger who was nervous about flying.
“As soon as I boarded, it was clear that this guy (Dean-Shannon) was exceptional,” Lee told WBTV. “He was even on the intercom singing happy birthday to a woman.”
Dean-Shannon said he noticed one passenger was visibly uncomfortable when he was doing his routine walk-through.
“It was our first flight out,” Dean-Shannon told Good Morning America. “And it kind of dawned on me … she had a look like, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ She was nervous.”
“I went on ahead and held my coffee and I sat there next to her for like 10 minutes explaining to her… ‘So you’re gonna feel like this or a little up and down feeling… The gears are coming out. You’re going to hear all of this,’” said Dean-Shannon. “But I guaranteed the safety — that if nothing was not right on this plane, we would never lift off the ground.”
He said bringing the passenger a mimosa also helped.
How One Flight Attendant Proved the Importance of Kindness and Patience
Lee said she was just so impressed by his generosity.
“Flight attendants are so busy and he doesn’t have an extra second so he probably had to work extra hard to put aside for that moment but he wasn’t worried about that. He was worried about making sure she was okay. It was beautiful to me. I had tears in my eyes watching. It was so kind,” she explained.
Dean-Shannon said he always tries to practice kindness and patience, two qualities he learned from his mother and his sister who are both nurses.
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“You hear all the nastiness when things go wrong. It’s refreshing and a blessing for a person to take the time to express when someone is doing what is right or going the extra mile. All workers who do a little more should be recognized!!!!” one commenter wrote under the Facebook post.
While he’s grateful for the recognition, Dean-Shannon said he was just doing his job.
“When you get on an aircraft, it’s not about us, it’s about you,” he said. “And if you’re not feeling good, I want to be there to say, ‘Hey, what’s wrong? Is there something I can do?’”
This story is a great reminder to check in on those around us and lend a helping hand.