Woman Has Panic Attack Midflight, Stranger on Board Decides to Step In

A heartwarming photo depicting a touching act of kindness on a domestic flight to New York City last week has gone viral on Reddit. Reddit user Narrow_Ad_2695, a technology consultant in New York City, captured the image toward the end of the flight. The picture shows a stranger holding the hand of a woman who was experiencing a "full-blown panic attack" during a bout of turbulence on the flight, according to a later comment by the poster. The post has received 29,000 upvotes since it was shared on July 19.

Those who have a fear of flying are not alone. This phobia is prevalent among 10 to 40 percent of people in the industrialized world, according to a June 2021 study in Frontiers in Psychology. An April 2019 study in Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance found that the "fear of flying is one of the most common phobias" and that "even though flight traffic has increased, there are new fears." The study, which looked at flight anxiety reported from 1986 to 2015, found that "turbulence, unknown sounds, and fear of terror attacks caused the most anxiety." Compared with men, more women reported being afraid of flying and other situations, the study said.

'Sweet Moment'

According to the Reddit poster, the flight had been relatively smooth until the final 10 minutes when it started to get noticeably bumpier. "The flight became quite bumpy as we started the approach. I travel a lot, so I thought the turbulence was pretty mild. We had a few bumps throughout the flight—just standard stuff—but it definitely became [bumpier] in the last 10 minutes," the poster, who did not provide a full name, told Newsweek. The woman began to gasp as the turbulence intensified. It was evident that she was struggling to cope, with tears rolling down her face and an expression of sheer panic. "She was sitting to my left [in the row in front], and when a bit of turbulence hit, I heard her gasp. I noticed she had tears rolling down her face and she had that frantic expression that people get when they're overwhelmed," the poster said. At this moment, the man seated next to the woman reached out to see if she was OK. The compassionate stranger's gesture was simple yet profound. "After she grabbed his hand, he said, 'We're going to be fine,' and then they didn't say anything until after we landed. She was looking forward, breathing deeply and occasionally wiping away tears. He just sat there and let her grip his hand really tightly," the poster said. The emotional support offered by the man clearly had a calming effect on the anxious passenger. Moved by the situation, the poster decided to capture the moment discreetly. "I took the photo after about five minutes because I thought it was awesome how this big guy was helping a complete stranger through a tough situation," the poster said. The woman's grip on the stranger's hand lasted for about 10 to 15 minutes, from the pilot's announcement of the approach until the plane safely landed. Once on the ground, the woman expressed her immense gratitude. "[She held his hand] for about 10 to 15 minutes, pretty much from the time the pilot announced we were approaching until after we landed safely," the poster said. "After we landed, she let out an enormous sigh of relief, grabbed both of his hands with hers, and said, 'Thank you.' The guy was super nonchalant about it all, like it happens all the time." The "funny part," the poster said, was that there was a man sitting next to her who was looking out the left window the entire time and "missed the entire thing." "I took a photo to show my wife this sweet moment that had happened on the flight," but he decided to share it on Reddit because "it might encourage other people to be as kind as the guy in front was." Do you have a travel-related video or story to share? Let us know via life@newsweek.com and your story could be featured in Newsweek.