Teen’s touching random act of kindness for blind and deaf man during flight
A teenage girl’s random act of kindness has gone viral after she helped a blind and deaf man communicate on a flight.
Last week, Clara Daly and her mum boarded an Alaska Airlines flight after their original flight from Boston was cancelled.
Clara’s mum, Jane, explained that the pair rushed frantically to board the flight and just made it in time.
Shortly after take-off, a flight attendant made an announcement to the passengers, asking if anyone knew sign language.
"Clara has been studying American Sign Language so she rang the flight attendant button," Jane wrote on Facebook.
"They explained that the passenger was not only deaf, but also blind. The only way you can communicate with him was by signing into his hand."
"They thought that he might need something and they weren't sure how to communicate," Clara told CBS Los Angeles.
Clara walked over to the man, whose name she later learnt was Timothy, and signed into the palm of his hand to see if she could help him.
"Several times he requested her assistance throughout the flight," the proud mum explained.
The Californian teen helped him ask for water and how much time was left for the flight.
Clara was happy to get up and help whenever he needed to say something and then, "toward the end of the flight, he asked for her again, and this time he just wanted to talk.
She spent the remainder of the flight until landing with him," Jane wrote.
"He didn't need anything. He was just like lonely and wanted to talk," Clara told CBS Los Angeles.
Clara was overjoyed that she was able to communicate with Timothy but her only concern was that she would spell something wrong when signing into his hand, as she is dyslexic.
Since Clara is dyslexic, she started learning sign language about a year ago because she wanted to know a way to communicate without having to read or write.
Her parents, Jane and Bill, expressed how proud they were of their daughter, and her mum shared the story after the airline emailed the photos the flight attendants took of Clara and the man.
Jane and Clara’s original flight was direct to Los Angeles but the new flight they were put on had a layover in Portland. Timothy was flying to Portland and if it weren’t for the flight change, they would’ve never met him.
"She'll probably kill me for posting this, but - Proud of my girl," the happy mum wrote about her daughter.
After her story went viral, Clara said her random act of kindness was “what anyone would have done”.