Mom Praises Stranger Who Helped Her With 2 Young Kids During Flight

Jessica Rudeen
Jessica Rudeen

She said she'd never been treated so kindly.

An Arkansas mom is thanking a stranger on a flight she was on who helped her with her two young children.

Jessica Rudeen was flying with her 3-year-old, Caroline, and her then-4-month-old, Alexander, on an American Airlines flight last month from Arkansas to North Carolina, with a layover.

When she got on her first flight, Caroline began having a meltdown because she was scared and Alexander was crying because he was hungry.

A man sitting next to Rudeen then stepped in.

"Todd reached over and I handed him the baby," Rudeen told InsideEdition.com.

Rudeen said she was able to calm Caroline down and later feed her son. Throughout the flight, the man, Todd, entertained Caroline. He asked her questions and helped her color, the mom said.

And his kindness didn’t stop there. The family happened to be on the same connecting flight as Todd and, as it is a trip he takes often for work, he helped them find the new gate. He even changed his seat on the next flight to be closer to Rudeen in case she needed help again.

"I was pretty grateful," Rudeen said. "I don’t know that I've ever had that selfless kindness from a stranger. I think he could have done anything from being annoyed or asking for a different seat. The fact that he reached over and asked to help was pretty great."

Rudeen said her family plans to reunite with Todd next month.

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