A young British man has been praised for his selfless actions after he gave up his first class seat on a long-haul flight from New York to London, allowing an 88-year-old woman to sit there in his place.
The man, identified only as Jack, was making the seven-hour journey with his family earlier this month when he reportedly befriended retired nurse Violet in the departure lounge. Once the flight had left the tarmac, Jack tracked down the woman in economy and offered to switch seats with her.
A flight attendant on the Virgin Atlantic plane shared the sweet story on social media, describing Jack and Violet as her “favourite passengers ever” as she revealed that Jack made one of her dreams come true by allowing her to travel in upper class.
“Of the hundreds of flights I’ve operated, I’ve had the pleasure of looking after footballers, supermodels and some Hollywood movie stars but let me tell you about my two favourite passengers EVER!” Virgin employee Leah Amy wrote on Facebook.
She added: “Jack and his family purchased seats In our upper class cabin for a flight home from New York, but when he got onboard, Jack went and found violet in economy and swapped seats with her.
“He then sat on the row of seats directly next to the economy toilets and never made a peep or asked for anything the rest of the flight. No fuss, no attention, literally did it out of the kindness of his own heart, no one asked him too.”
Leah went on to reveal that Leah had been in New York visiting her daughter, having been unable to make the trip for a while after undergoing a knee replacement. She added: “Her dream has always been to sit at the front, and Jack made that come true.
“You should of seen her face, when I tucked her in her bed after supper. She said her daughter won’t believe her, and wanted a ‘selfie’ to prove it, but didn’t have a phone or an email address. These photos are getting sent in the post tomorrow.”
Leah also shared several images of the pair alongside post, which received a huge response on social media, with one showing Jack and Violet posing together. Another image showed Violet beaming widely as she reclined in her first class cabin, while a final photograph showed the 88-year-old posing alongside the Virgin team onboard the plane.
More than 1,000 people commented on the heartwarming post, with many describing Jack as a true gentleman. One person wrote: “Beautiful young man……this world needs more kind hearted people like you. Lovely story, made my day.”
One said: “There is still good in the world and this kind of thing is what we should also hear on the news. Top Lad, clearly has great parents too.” Another commented: “What an amazing gesture love it. Violets face just priceless.”
While another user wrote: “A man with a very generous heart. This will come back to you ten fold. Thank you Jack!”