Flight Attendant Notices a Passenger Having a Panic Attack - Her Next Move Is Captured by a Fellow Passenger

*Featured image has photo by Natã Romualdo

A flight attendant is being praised for spending hours comforting a passenger who was having a panic attack.

How a Flight Attendant Eased a Passenger’s Panic

Celeste Leander was on an Air Canada flight from Toronto to Vienna when the woman in the row in front of her began to panic.

"It started when even before we were taxiing," Leander told CTV News Toronto. "The passenger clearly knew she was very nervous to fly and started talking to the flight attendants."

Leander said the flight attendants kept checking in with the nervous flyer, but she continued getting more anxious.

So one of the flight attendants sat with the woman.

"That's when the flight attendant came over and sat down and said 'I'll get you through this, it's going to be okay,' and started holding her hand and breathed with her," Leander said.

"For a long time she sat with her. She was just really amazing and it was just a heartfelt moment."

The flight attendant returned again to sit with the passenger when the plane was landing, according to Leander.

She Deserves a Medal

Leander posted a photo of the flight attendant comforting the anxious passenger on Twitter saying she deserved a medal from the airline.

The tweet has been viewed over 650,000 times and liked 12,000 times, including by the helpful flight attendant.

The flight attendant in the photo responded saying she didn’t realize she was being observed, but is thankful her actions were acknowledged.

"I was raised by one of the kindest women to ever grace this earth and so I did what she taught me to do for the last 52 years," Loridana Nasso wrote. "At the end of the day, it's my job to do what I did."

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, Air Canada said they are proud of Nasso’s actions and that "what occurred on this flight exemplifies the empathy and professionalism qualities that we value in our crew members."

How a Flight Attendant Proved the Importance of Compassion

Many commenters shared their experiences of flying with anxiety and emphasized how important the crew is.

“I got the same care from a @AirCanada flight attendant. She changed my seat and chatted with me almost 6 hours of a 9 hours trip,” one tweeted.

“I’ve had PA’s on flights and the crews have always been fantastic. I usually tell the gate agent about them and they let me pre-board. I always tell the crew before we takeoff and they usually check on me throughout the flight. Much respect for the crew,” another commented.

“I doubt that most people have personally experienced the horror of full on panic. The flight attendant does indeed deserve a medal.”

During a time when we’re bombarded with airline travel horror stories, it’s nice to come across a heartwarming story from the skies.

More from Goalcast:

• Woman Is Afraid of Traveling on Plane – Flight Attendant Does Something That Brings Her Fellow Passenger to Tears

• Frazzled Mom Struggles With Crying Baby – A Flight Attendant Then Asks Her Something That Embarrasses Her