The daughter’s TikTok video telling the story received over 10 million views. Hannah White shared a video on TikTok on December 9, 2024, where she typed out the story of what happened and continuously thanked the airline for what they did for her. “I wish I knew the names of those who helped me, but the story is too beautiful not to share,” she prefaced the story.
![[White was able to say goodbye to her mother thanks to the actions of Delta flight crew]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/08/17/Screenshot-2025-01-08-at-12.37.34.jpg)
At the time, her mother, Kathleen Nelson, was in the hospital for “undiagnosed pneumonia” and was doing well after her surgery. However, White said she received a call from her brother who told her that her mother’s body had gone into septic shock. She was informed that “family needed to visit her immediately” because the doctors were unclear “what was wrong or how long she had.”.
White’s flight from Dallas, Texas, required a connection in Minneapolis, Minnesota, but because of “mechanical issues” her plane sat at the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport for over an hour, meaning she might miss her connecting flight and wasn’t sure if she’d be able to see her mother alive.
She then explained her predicament to one of the flight attendants, who told her she would not be able to make her flight in Minneapolis and was booked for a new flight the next day. However, the pilot on the first flight called the pilot on White’s connecting flight, who agreed to hold the plane until she could get there.
The flight crew also upgraded White’s seat to ensure that she could depart the plane faster and even made an announcement over the loudspeaker to make sure she was the first person off. The man sitting next to her in first class also pulled out a map of the Minneapolis airport so she knew actually where to board her connecting flight.
