Man's act of kindness on plane goes viral after grateful mom posts about him

One of the situations that any mom would not want to be in is trying to calm down her kids during flight. It is an unavoidable event for a mom of young kids.

Earlier this month, Jessica Rudeen was flying from Kansas City to Charlotte with her three-year-old daughter and four-month-old son. Two toddlers for a pair of hands is quite a handful and most people would not want to sit beside this family.

Jesssica’s worst fears were realized when her daughter, Caroline, had a meltdown mid-flight. Due to his sister’s screams, the baby cried too. Jessica was ashamed and panicking at the same time.

Good thing, they sat beside a nice guy in mid-50s. He offered to hold the baby while Jessica calmed down her daughter.

After the toddler calmed down, it is time to feed the younger one. He switched his attention to Caroline and entertained her to keep her attention.

It seemed that he has a lot of tricks on his sleeve; he watched a movie with her, helped her color, and let her lean over him while he showed her stuff out the window.

Then, they both realized that they have the same connecting flight from Charlotte to Wilmington. The man asked for his seat to be changed so they can sit together.

Jessica Rudeen shared her story on Facebook;

“My first flights with an infant and a toddler started out with a little panic when we boarded the plane. My 4 month old was screaming his head off because, due to a series of unexpected events, I was unable to nurse him before boarding the plane.

My 3 year old, who was excited before boarding the plane, lost her nerve and began screaming and kicking “I want to get off the plane! I don’t want to go!” I honestly thought we’d get kicked off the plane.

So with two kids losing their minds, I was desperately trying to calm the situation. This man reached for the baby and held him while I forced a seatbelt on Caroline, got her tablet and started her movie. Once she was settled and relatively calmed, he distracted her so that I could feed Alexander. Finally, while we were taxiing, the back of the plane no longer had screams.

During the flight, he colored and watched a movie with Caroline, he engaged in conversation and showed her all the things outside. By the end of the flight, he was Caroline’s best friend. I’m not sure if he caught the kiss she landed on his shoulder while they were looking out the window.

Amazingly, we had the same connection in Charlotte to Wilmington, a connection he navigates frequently for work. He helped us get off the plane and led us to the next gate with Caroline in hand. If that wasn’t enough, he changed his seat on the next flight to sit in our row to help us.

This guy, Todd, showed me kindness and compassion that I’ve never known from another person. His wife, he said, had a similar experience when their two boys were young and a stranger showed her the same kindness. I am blown away by God’s hand in this because we could have been placed next to anyone, but we were seated next to one of the nicest men I have ever met in my life.

I’d like to find him. His name is Todd. He has a son at the University of Arkansas and he lives in Lenexa, KS.

If you could help share this post so that I can find him, I’d really appreciate your help!”