Flight attendant Shelia Frederick of Alaska Airline felt uneasy when a guy and a young woman boarded a trip from Seattle to San Francisco.
The girl hesitated to look anyone in the eye and was less well-dressed than the man.
Shelia was working on the plane and couldn’t stop thinking about the girl. Eventually, she came up with a brilliant, yet brave, plan. This young child was spared from a terrible circumstance thanks to courage.
While serving snacks on board the airplane, Shelia anxiously sought to make eye contact with the girl since she couldn’t help herself.
She informed a coworker of her concerns, and the two of them worked to divert the man’s focus while Shelia made an effort to capture the girl’s attention.
“She finally looked up and the look in her eye was just heartbreaking, so I excused myself to go to the back and I just broke down,” Shelia said in an interview on Good Morning Britain.
She came up with a brilliant idea in which she locked one of the plane’s bathrooms while placing a piece of paper and a pencil inside with the intention of only unlocking it for the girl.
Shelia mouthed restroom while her colleague had the man’s attention before miming writing. She then waited, hoping the girl would comprehend.
Fortunately, the girl called an excuse to visit the restroom. The man remained by her side outside the restroom, but Shelia insisted on remaining there and keeping a tight eye on him.
“I left a note in one of the bathrooms,” Shelia said. “She wrote back on the note and said, ‘I need help.’”
Shelia informed the pilot, who made arrangements with ground control for authorities to meet the man on landing.
In the video below, the heroic flight attendant tells her own story in full.
The young woman that Shelia rescued from human trafficking remained in touch with her, and the two had spoken on the phone a few times over the years. Even college is being attended by the young woman, according to the Western Journal.
“If you see something, say something,” Shelia informs others.
Please share to remind people to trust their instincts and to pay tribute to the brave and wonderful Shelia Frederick. She is such a great example to us all.