Persistent compassion of a flight attendant towards a passenger with ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s disease is being shared across the internet after a woman shared his story on social media.
Sharon Radcliffe was on a Delta Airlines flight from Detroit to Nashville when the flight attendant, Jeffrey Jones, found out that an older woman in coach class struggled with the neurodegenerative disease.
Radcliffe was very surprised when Jones immediately took the senior by the hand and escorted her to an empty seat in first class.
“Friends…. this is Jeffery Jones,” Sharon wrote in a Facebook post. “He was a Flight Leader on Delta Flight 2721 from Detroit to Nashville earlier today! Wow WHAT A GUY!”
Jeffrey had noticed an elderly woman with ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s shaking when she sat in coach, sitting tightly next to other passengers. ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s disease affects the central nervous system and often causes uncontrollable tremors and shaking, and those affected often have trouble walking and keeping their balance.
“He noticed that a lady in coach class had ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s disease and without blinking an eye, he went to her and guided her, by the hand, to a free seat in first class! Like WHAT????”
Jeffrey didn’t only give the woman a comfy seat in first class, but for the entire flight, he spent time checking in on her, helping her up and walking her hand-in-hand to the restroom when needed.
“For the ENTIRE flight I could see him checking in on her, patting her back, helping her get up, walking her (holding hands) up and down the aisle and generally “mother hen-ing” her. I asked him if he needed help taking her to the bathroom; he told me ‘I GOT THIS’!”
While offering to help Jeffrey, Sharon learned that his own grandmother also had ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s.
“He told me his grandmother had Parkinson’s and that he was all good, but that he very much appreciated my offer for help.”
The gentleness and kindness Jeffrey showed to the elderly woman brought tears to Sharon’s eyes, as her mother was also recently diagnosed with ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s disease.
“As I sat in my seat, I literally had tears in my eyes. When I got off the plane, this is what I told Jeffrey: “I am a nurse, and I am so impressed with how you took care of that lady. My mother is a very young 70 years old and is a newly diagnosed ᴘᴀʀᴋɪɴsᴏɴ’s patient. I hope one day someone treats her as well as you treated that lady!” she wrote
“ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ sʜᴀʀᴇ THIS FAR AND WIDE so that people and #DELTA can know they have a SUPERSTAR working for them!”
References: goodnewsnetwork.org, understandingcompassion.com
