Little Boy with Autism Instantly Soothed When Flight Attendant Saves the Day
Traveling is stressful for anyone. Add kids to the mix and catching a flight presents a whole new set of challenges.
For Sonja Redding, taking a plane trip with her two children quickly escalated into a not-so-pleasant experience.
Redding’s 5-year-old son, Xayvior, suffers from anxiety and also has autism. Both Xayvior and his sister have a rare genetic disorder known as Methylmalonic Acidemia, and there is currently no cure.
The family had been traveling back from a medical research trip.
“It is a serious and life-threatening disease,” Redding wrote on Facebook.
Their Delta Airlines flight from Washington D.C.to Atlanta should not have been stressful, but it certainly started that way when little Xayvior had a “meltdown.”
“We couldn’t keep him calm no matter what we tried,” Redding wrote in her post. “It felt like everyone on the entire plane was looking at us and annoyed by my sons outburst.”
Any parent who has traveled with a small child can, to some extent, relate to this feeling. All eyes are on you and you feel like the worst human being on the planet.
Thankfully, a kind flight attendant literally swooped in and saved the day. Thanks to social media and the power of viral posts, Redding was able to track down Amanda Amburgy, the woman who held her son and gave him a tour of the plane to help calm him.
“I warned her that he might get aggressive with her,” Redding explained. “She quickly responded that she did not mind and swooped him up, taking him on a tour of the plane. This hero gave us a bit of sanity back in a chaotic moment.”
“When they came back, Xayvior was much more calm and he just loved on his new friend so happily!” Redding added. “She didn’t stare or judge, she just showed love and empathy without hesitation.”
“I would be so beyond lucky to have a child like him one day,” Amburgy wrote on Facebook following the experience.
Delta Airlines also recognized its employee.
“This exemplifies the Delta difference in every way,” Senior Vice President of In-Flight Service Service, Allison Ausband, said.
“Service from the heart is what we’re all about and I’d like to thank Amanda and Delta employees around the globe for showing thoughtful service like this to the world.”
What an amazing young woman with a heart full of kindness! If you would like to help support Xayvior and his family, please visit their Facebook fundraiser page.
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