A Plane Passenger Was Racing to See Her Dying Father. A Flight Attendant’s Act of Compassion ‘Changed Her’

Seahawks’ game day radio host Gee Scott Sr. needed to catch an early morning United Airlines flight to the Bay Area on Feb. 8 to support his team at the Super Bowl.

Scott said he was seated “way in the back” in a “cramped” coach seat, waiting for the plane to depart. At first he was alone, but a woman eventually took the seat next to him.

“This lady was crying,” Scott said. Though she was speaking in a language he didn’t understand, he could tell she was upset.

“I kind of wonder if she’s getting ready to go see a loved one, like a loved one passed away,” Scott recalled thinking. “I can just kind of feel that vibe even though I didn’t understand what she was saying.”

Scott said he went about his own business until a flight attendant arrived with the beverage cart.

“All of a sudden, she starts crying again and she’s asking — in English — ‘Hey, what about my flight,’ and ‘I don’t know if I’m gonna be able to get my connecting flight,’ ” Scott said.

He remembered the flight attendant pausing to comfort her.

“It was the way he knelt down,” Scott said. “I pulled out my phone and I just started recording… Then when he was done, he’s like, ‘Hey, give me a hug.’ ”

“He goes to hug her and I’m telling you, it changed her,” Scott added. “They embraced and he got up and he finished along with his job. She looked at me, and she started to smile, and we gave each other a high five.”

Scott shared the moment on social media and said the video quickly took off.

“I posted on Instagram and posted it on X… less than five minutes later, it was at 6,000 views,” he said. “It just went crazy.”

Before he even got off the plane, another flight attendant approached him to say the video was going viral.

The flight attendant in the video, Eric Cato, a Chicago-based crew member of five years, said the morning began with a “typical delay.” He could tell the 45-minute hold-up would create problems for many passengers trying to make connections.

Cato said he usually helps travelers review options, including alternative flights and accommodation possibilities. That’s what he intended to do for the woman, but after checking the flight status, he realized they were expected to arrive only 11 minutes late because they could make up time in the air.

“When I told her that, she just started crying,” Cato recalled. “She was telling me that her father is dying, and if she misses her Beijing flight, she’ll miss him.”

Cato said he immediately tried to empathize with her.

“I can’t imagine how it is to lose a parent, but I know how it is to be away from your family and a loved one is sick, is dying, because that’s happened to me before,” he said. “So I was able to put myself into her shoes.”

In the end, Cato said the passenger made it to her next gate, and the plane landed only four minutes behind schedule.

While he’s hugged passengers before, Cato said this one “hit a little different.”

“I just knew that she was so far from home and flying all the way back to where she was from. Just to see your father, to see your dad, who’s sick, who’s passing away, that was tough,” he said. “It was a beautiful moment, but also a very sad moment as well.”

The attention the video received also gave Cato a chance to reflect on his work and the impact small gestures can have.

“My cousin yesterday, she reached out, and what she said was very spot on,” he said. “She told me, ‘You reveal your true self when no one is watching or when you’re unaware that someone is observing. My cousin just demonstrated who he was to his core, a personification of kindness and compassion.’ ”

He added, “You never know what anyone is going through. It’s okay to pause whatever you’re doing to just sit there and listen… This is who I am, I’m going to stop whatever I’m doing to listen to you and help you find a solution.”