Good Samaritan comes to rescue of woman fat-shamed on flight by rude comedian
A woman from Oklahoma has applauded a kind stranger as her hero when he stepped in the middle of her and another passenger on the plane they were in.
One of the passengers on the United Airlines flight from Oklahoma to Chicago on May 14 was incredibly rude to Savannah Phillips and started fat-shaming the distressed woman by saying she was a "smelly fatty".
The problem started when the flight was preparing for takeoff. Phillips, who is a mother, was sitting next to a man who look like he was "in his 60s with yellow sunglasses who claimed to be a comedian".
Phillips wrote a lengthy post on her Facebook page about the incident: "As soon as I got buckled, he sat back down... his phone was maybe 12 inches from my face and he proceeded to text someone that he was sitting next to a 'smelly fatty'."
"I don’t even know what the rest of his text said. I turned my head away as fast as I could. I was shocked and it was like confirmation of the negative things I think about myself on a daily basis."
"Before I knew it, I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face."
NewsChannel 5 reported that Phillips was rescued by another man who was sitting across the aisle from her and who just so also happened to see the text.
Phillips continued: "He tapped him on the shoulder and said, 'I need to talk to you'. The guy took his earphones out and turned around and he said, 'We're switching seats right now'."
According to Phillips, the man told the rude comedian that he could not tolerate him sending such text messages. The two men switched their seats shortly after the incident.
Phillips went on further: "When he sat down he saw me crying and asked why I was crying. He said to not let it get to me and not to worry about it, and we started making small talk which made me feel better."
Later, it was discovered that the good Samaritan passenger who rescued Phillips was Chase Irwin who is a manager at the Dierks Bentley's Whiskey Row bar and restaurant in Nashville, Tennessee.
Irwin took a picture of the rude comedian as he was texting on the flight.
He wrote on his Snapchat account as he was taking a picture: "This guy, prob mid 50s just text his wife that he is sitting next to a smelly fatty and was about to vomit."
"I watched her read his text and is now looking sad," read the second Snapchat story and the third one was: "Should I New Mexico slap the s**t out of him or just say something when landing?"
After the incident on the flight, Phillips did not know Irwin's name and she put a post on Facebook with her experience and asked for help in finding out who the mystery rescuer was.
Irwin told NewsChannel 5 that he did not intervene just for the publicity.
He said: "I was going to wait until the end of the flight to say something but I could not have this guy sit next to her this whole flight and her thinking he's making fun of her."
"It really gets to me deep down when I see someone crying, and when I saw her crying it really hit me hard and actually got sick to my stomach."
Irwin also told the news channel that the fat-shaming comedian thanked him and even asked him why he wanted to swap seats to which he replied: "Because you're a heartless person, I read your text, and the girl next to you crying also read your text. And you should really take into consideration other people's feelings."
Phillips finally said: "I was so blessed and happy he was there. I hope it sets a good example for others for what they should do in situations like that and to stick up for people when they need help. The flight attendant kept trying to give him free drinks and told him that he was her hero. He wasn’t her hero - he was mine."
"I do feel a little more beautiful today."