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Home / Travel

Revealed: The stranger who bought a child a plane ticket

Daily Mail
13 Mar, 2017 03:01 AM4 mins to read

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Debbie Bolton was the complete stranger came to a dad's rescue after he found his young daughter required a ticket to fly. Photo / Facebook

Debbie Bolton was the complete stranger came to a dad's rescue after he found his young daughter required a ticket to fly. Photo / Facebook

A father was left speechless when a complete stranger bought his young daughter a plane ticket on Wednesday.

According to a Facebook post that has now gone viral on the page 'Love What Matters', a man was travelling with his two-year-old daughter when he was told he had to buy her a plane ticket or she could not board.

The young father was under the impression that she was of the age where she could still fly for free, and was visibly shocked and confused.

The Facebook post, shared by Kevin Leslie, said that the man was hit by emotion, and mentioned that he would not be able to afford to re-book the flight or pay for the $749 ticket for his daughter.

He then stepped to the side and began to make some calls.

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"Hugging his daughter and grabbing his head, you could tell he was heartbroken," Leslie shared on the page.

However, the woman standing next to the young father, at the check in counter overheard the entire conversation, and walked over to ask him what was wrong.

After the two talked for a time, the woman, who was identified on the post as Debbie Bolton, walked up to the counter and asked to buy the girl's ticket.

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Bolton is the co-Founder and Global Chief Sales officer at Norwex - a firm that sells home cleaning products.

According to the Facebook post, the agent asked her: "You know how much this ticket costs right?"

Bolton responded that she did and that it was fine, and pulled out her credit card.

The person who wrote the original post watched the entire interaction take place, and said that he told the woman: "God Bless you!" as agents printed out the ticket.

"This woman needs to be commended. A gentleman was checking in for his flight when the agent asked how old his daughter...

Posted by Love What Matters on Wednesday, 8 March 2017

The agent made multiple comments about having goose bumps, and the father asked for Bolton's name so that he could find and repay her.

According to the post, she said over and over "Don't worry about it."

"She knew she wanted to help that man and his daughter no matter what the cost," the post said.

Although Bolton hoped to stay anonymous and did not buy the ticket to receive attention, after the post was shared on Facebook a number of people left comments that revealed her identity.

Some of her personal friends and coworkers left comments that this is exactly the kind of thing that she would do, and that they are proud to know her.

Bolton is the Co-Founder and Global Chief Sales officer at Norwex, and was returning from a business trip in Omaha, Nebraska, when the interaction took place.

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A woman who works with her, Suzanne Holt, told DailyMail.com: "I'm the Senior Vice President Sales Leader within her company and admire her greatly. She's an amazing woman and never would have intended for this to be public."

Holt also commented on the viral Facebook post, saying: "My first thought was that I'm sure she did this privately and would not want it to be known so I didn't plan to share it with anyone. With the way news goes viral on Facebook, I saw it spread like wildfire through my news feed as she was recognised.

"This is an amazing story because it's about a woman who is amazing at her very core.

"I love, admire and respect her for who she is, not just for the business she's built. She lives her life like this.

"She's someone who does good in private just because it's the right thing to do. She's not doing it to bring fame to herself, but just to show love.

"When showing it to my son, he immediately said 'That sounds like something Debbie would do."'

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Norwex manufactures and sells environmentally friendly, chemical free home and personal care products.

Amy Cadora, Chief Marketing Officer for the company said in a statement: "We're not surprised to hear of Debbie's kind and generous personal gesture. We are very proud of her and love having her as a part of the Norwex team and as one of the Co-Founders of Norwex North America.

"We have always appreciated the loving spirit of Debbie Bolton. She's kind, caring and generous. That's why none of us was a bit surprised when we saw the recent post on social media about her generosity.

"Rather than drawing attention to herself, Debbie just 'did what anyone else would do.' Her hope is that her action might inspire someone else to make a positive impact in the life of another. Ultimately, we're all real people, making a real impact."

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