This is Garrick, a flight attendant on flight 1264 from Orlando to Newark on Friday, July 8th. In the picture, he’s holding my 9-year-old daughter, Gabby, who has type 1 diabetes and struggles with severe flying anxiety.
When the plane took off, he noticed she was having a hard time. Throughout the flight, he tried to make her laugh and even brought her special drinks. As we got closer to our destination, the weather got rough and there was some turbulence. Gabby started having a full-blown panic attack during the descent.
Garrick came up to the front and asked if she wanted him to sit with her in the empty seat next to her. Since I was flying alone with two younger children, I couldn’t leave my seat, so Gabby was holding my hand from across the aisle. She was happy to accept his offer. He suggested they talk to distract her, so they spent about 30 minutes chatting about everything—his daughter, who is the same age, her pets, and what grade she’s going into.
During the turbulence, Gabby started crying and grabbed Garrick’s arm. He gently told her she could hold on as long as she needed to. Because of the stress, her blood sugar started dropping dangerously low, so Garrick got up to get her some orange juice and came right back to sit with her. Gabby asked if she could keep holding his arm while the plane landed, and he, of course, said yes.
Once we landed and were taxiing to the gate, Garrick came on the intercom and announced, “My friend, Gabby, in the front row, overcame her fear of flying. Let’s give her a round of applause!” The whole plane clapped for her.
It was such a wonderful experience with Southwest. We are forever grateful to have met such a kind and selfless person.