'I just started to cry': WestJet employee's act of kindness reunites Calgary man with dying sister
CBC News | Posted: August 9, 2017 1:00 AM | Last Updated: August 9, 2017
'He's going to be staying at the hospital with her until she goes to the next part of her journey'
A WestJet employee named Susan has made the world a little bit brighter by giving away a pair of airline tickets to the family of an Ottawa woman dying of cancer.
Kellie Martin told the Calgary Eyeopener that her best friend in Ottawa is losing a fight with cancer and went into palliative care this week. Martin wanted to make sure her friend's brother, who lives in Calgary, could get to Ottawa to be with his sister for her final days.
Low on funds for airfare, Martin made a call to WestJet in the off chance the airline could help the family with a discounted ticket.
That's when the WestJet employee named Susan stepped up to help the family with a random act of kindness.
Flying the friendly skies
WestJet gives their employees discounted tickets called buddy passes, which they can give to family and friends. While a buddy pass doesn't make a flight free, it does significantly reduce the cost.
"(Susan) said 'Could you just hold for a moment,' and then she came back on the line and she explained about the buddy passes," Martin said. "She wanted to give me two of hers in order to get Andrew home to be with his sister."
Martin said she was shocked when the stranger on the other end of the phone offered up two of her own buddy passes to help the friend.
"I was dumbfounded," Martin said of Susan's good deed. "And she's like, 'Ya, I'm going to give you those passes and you're going to get him home' and I just started to cry."
Martin said the flight was booked the next day and Andrew is now in Ontario with his sister, all thanks to Susan.
"He's going to be staying at the hospital with her until she goes to the next part of her journey," Martin said.
"I can't even tell you, to have those two together for her last days here, what that means to them and what it means to me."
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