They say that everything happens for a reason.
Jane Daly, along with her 15-year-old daughter Clara, had their original flight canceled. They were given another flight, and they were okay with it.
What they didn’t know was that this flight was about to be a memorable one.
As Clara Daly and her mom boarded their plane to Los Angeles, she planned to spend the whole flight relaxing, but what happened next was truly unexpected.
Just a few moments after everyone had settled, the flight attendant made an announcement.
She asked if anyone on the plane knew sign language.
Just then, Jane knew that her daughter could help. According to her, Clara has been studying American Sign Language, and she knew she had to help, so she rang the flight attendant button.
Clara approached the flight attendant, and there she understood that someone needed her help badly. They explained to her that there was a passenger who was not only blind but was also deaf.
He was Tim Cook, 64, and he was a bit restless as he wanted to communicate, but no one was able to help him. They needed someone who can understand sign language to help Tim communicate, and Clara was the person that they needed.
Clara knew what to do, so she walked over to Tim’s seat, and she held his hand. She started signing and communicating with him.
“They thought that he might need something, and they weren’t sure how to communicate,” Clara tells in her interview with CBS Evening News.
From there, Clara started finger-spelling, and that’s how she was able to communicate with Tim.
“I wanted to help,” she explained in her interview with PEOPLE, “because that’s what people are supposed to do.”
She knelt next to Cook’s seat and started asking him if he was okay.
This young lady only started learning sign language about a year ago, but she didn’t hesitate to help Tim. She took his hand and started comforting him.
They soon became friends. Tim was so happy to be able to find someone who actually understood him and who was patient enough to talk to him.
Clara jumped at the opportunity to help Tim. She was very patient with him. She explained to Tim about their flight information, their estimated time of arrival, and so much more.
This helped Tim a lot.
Can you just imagine being all alone, deaf, and blind? How can you let the people around you know that you need help? How can you feel at ease when you don’t know what’s happening around you?
According to Clara, Tim was feeling lonely, and having someone to talk to was more than just having someone to help him, it was a big deal for him.
Just having someone to talk to, someone who will listen to you when you’re surrounded by darkness and silence is a big help.
Tim felt grateful to the young girl who took the time to help him.
“He just needed somebody to talk to,” Clara shared with PEOPLE.
This beautiful encounter went viral, thanks to Lynette Scribner, a fellow passenger who was sitting next to Tim. She witnessed everything and was very impressed by the act of kindness of this young girl.
In her Facebook post, which she later made private, she wrote:
“It was a beautiful reminder, in this time of too much awfulness, that there are still good, good people who are willing to look out for each other.”
She also shared in her post that Tim’s anxiety and frustration changed to laughter.
In just a few days after she posted the story, she was overwhelmed by the reactions the post was receiving.
“I wrote about this, thinking I was just sharing a sweet story with my friends,” Lynette Scribner told in her interview with PEOPLE. “Clara was so kind and genuine — she seemed to have no qualms about signing into Tim’s hands, and even though he couldn’t see her, she looked attentively at his face with such kindness.”
She was amazed by how dedicated and helpful Clara was. Let’s face it; most teens nowadays would be too busy with their phones and social media to pay attention.
Clara was also grateful that Tim felt that she was worthy of his life story.
“He told me how he became blind — that it was a gradual thing that happened over time,” Clara recalled.
“He said that he’d once worked as a traveling salesman. We both have family in Boston, so we also talked about that, and he asked me what I wanted to do in my life,” she continued.
You can see how sincere she was. Clara’s eyes were full of concern, she does this from her heart, and that’s what makes it so special.
Jane Daly, Clara’s mom, also shared her version of the story on Facebook.
“After the flight, Clara told me that she thought it was meant to be that our original flight was canceled and we were placed on this flight so that she could be there to help this man.”
Any parent would be so proud to have a daughter like Clara, a young lady who is kind, patient, and helpful. She didn’t hesitate to volunteer and she patiently assisted an old man who needed her aid.
https://www.facebook.com/jane.daly.501/posts/10156396022402726
Just being there for someone in need, even if you don’t have much to give, is already enough to help. Because helping someone, doing it from your heart – is the best type of comfort you can give to someone.
It may have been two years since this encounter happened, but it’s still worth sharing.
To learn more about Clara and Tim’s first meeting, watch the video below.
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