Fliers React Incredibly to Orlando Victim's Grandma

JetBlue flight attendant recounts the moving scene
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 16, 2016 1:05 PM CDT
Fliers React Incredibly to Orlando Victim's Grandma
This undated photo shows Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo, one of the people killed in the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., early Sunday, June 12, 2016.   (Facebook via AP)

The grandmother of Luis Omar Ocasio-Capo—at 20, one of the youngest victims of the Orlando nightclub massacre—flew to Florida on Tuesday to be with her family and attend her grandson's funeral. When JetBlue employees realized she was on their flight, and flying solo, they pulled out all the stops, writes flight crew member Kelly Davis Karas in a Facebook post that's been shared more than 100,000 times since Tuesday. Flight attendants and gate agents were "by her side" at all times, making sure she was "as comfortable as possible." And then they got the other passengers involved.

During beverage service, the flight crew passed a piece of paper around to everyone on board so they could sign it for the grieving woman. Instead of just signing it, though, people wrote long notes—so long that flight attendants passed out multiple pieces of paper, which they presented to the grandmother, along with a few cash donations. With her permission, the crew asked for a moment of silence in her grandson's memory after the plane landed. And then, while deplaning, every single passenger stopped to give their condolences. "Not a single person was impatient at the slower deplaning process," Karas writes. "In spite of a few hateful, broken human beings in this world ... people ARE kind. People DO care." JetBlue confirmed to CNN that the story is true. (The airline also offered free flights to victims' family members.)

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