A little girl was deathly ill in a foreign country. Her mother had no choice but to send her on a plane, completely by herself, and dependent on the goodness of others. She had no idea what choice she was making in the moment…
Family Emergency
Maya Hughes was a young African girl living with her family in the US. When a sudden illness strikes her while traveling in her mothers home country of Sierra Leone, they are put into a horrific spot in between “life and death.”
Zainab Sesay
Maya’s mother moved from Sierra Leone to the US when she was a young adult. Years passed before she decided to return. In 2003, she decided to go for a six-month trip with five-year-old Maya…
Medical Emergency
Four months into their trip, Maya gets stricken with a sudden illness. They were still two months out from leaving, and they knew that they needed to get back to the US. Maya was getting sicker and sicker by the day… And, they had no idea what was wrong with her.
Problem After Problem
Sesay’s family were already upset with her for leaving Sierra Leone when she did. Now that they have her back, they don’t want her to leave again. “She’ll get over it,” they said over and over again. Her demanding family was getting in the way of her daughters health… What was she supposed to do?
One-Way Ticket
Maya was just five years old, but Sesay found a way to get her on a plane. It’s actually legal to put a child on a plane at that age. The airline will make sure that they are safe. For Sesay, this was still so hard to figure out…
Chaperone
Sesay was trying to find someone to chaperone her young daughter. None of her family wanted to. She ended up resorting to trying to find a stranger to be Maya’s chaperone. Eventually, it was time to head to the airport.
Finding Someone
Maya and Sesay went to the airport without someone to keep a close eye on Maya. Whey they arrived, she even tried to ask strangers on the same flight to watch Maya. No one was biting until a flight attendant pointed out a man who was also on the same flight saying that he was friendly.
Hesitant
Sesay went up to the man and bravely asked if he could watch her daughter on the flight. He was hesitant… He didn’t feel like he was in the correct mental state to travel with a minor. He was going on the flight for a funeral…
Sure, Why Not?
Eventually, he ended up agreeing to be her temporary guardian on this flight. This little girl was obviously very ill and needed help, and he knew he had to step up to the plate. Sesay had no idea if she was making the right choice, but it was too late to go back. The plane took off.
Terror
Sesay recounted, “All of a sudden, the adrenaline kind of went away, and I realized, ‘Oh, my God, I just handed my only child at the time to a complete stranger.’’
Total Stranger
Maya began her journey with this stranger. He helped her through the layovers all while holding her hand. At first, he felt awkward. Kids were a whole new world to him, and Maya could kind of tell. Flight attendants noticed their situation and even gave them first class meals!
Crying
Maya recalled her emotions from that day, even though she was very young. She said, “I just remember crying a lot on the plane.” She further said, “I remember him trying to calm me down. That’s all I remember, really, just him trying to calm me down on the plane.”
He Was Great With Her
This man even knew Krio, the language in Sierra Leone! He knew some fun nursery songs to sing to her to help her calm down. She even sang back a bit.
Heading Home
Maya’s grandmother was waiting at the airport for the young girl. The man handed her off and bid her goodbye with a tight hug. He wished her good health and went on his way…
Reunited
Sesay got back to the United States in the next month. Maya recalled, “I always gave my mom a hard time because he was a complete stranger, and it was risky.â€
Who Was He?
As the years went on, they wondered who this nice man was. They exchanged first names only and never got any other contact information. One day, years later, Sesay told the story to a cousin…
They Knew Him…
Her cousin felt like she had heard the story before despite not hearing it from Sesay. She then realized it was actually a colleague of a colleague! She had a co-worker tell her the story before…
Years Later
Unfortunately, they had lost contact with the man. Sesay wanted to try and reach out to him, but they were coming up on dead ends. Eventually, years went by. The cousin had visited them in the US years later and brought up the story once again.
Tom Perriello
The cousin asked Sesay if she had contacted Tom Perriello. Sesay had no idea what they were talking about… Turns out, the cousin found out who the man was and totally forgot to tell her!
Reaching Out
Now that she had a name, Sesay was able to get his email and write to him. She just hoped this was the right one…
A Reply!
Sesay was shocked to learn that she got a reply! Tom said that yes, it was him back in 2003 that helped and that he was happy to hear from her!
So Excited
Sesay nearly jumped out of her seat in excitement. Tom was now a public servant and politician. He even became a Congressman for the state of Virginia. He served under the Obama Administration and was employed int the State Department. He even ran for governor in 2017!
Making Moves
Back in 2003, Tom was actually a spokesperson and advisor for the UN. He was in Sierra Leone to participate in a war crimes tribunal, but had to leave due to his grandmothers funeral.
It Was A Particularly Hard Day
Tom was facing some intense emotional turmoil. His grandmother had passed away, and on his way to the airport he found out that the tribunal was going to charge Liberia’s director for his crimes. Tom said, “It was in some ways the worst possible emotional space to be in.”Â
Memories
Tom remembered, “It’s an incredibly vivid memory that seems like something out of a movie. It just wasn’t clear if it was a happy or a sad movie.” He remembered that he “was literally working multiple phones” to figure out what he was doing when the urgent mother approached him.
He Was Taken off Guard
At first, he was taken off guard. He had a lot on his mind and didn’t fully understand the request… Then, he realized what was going on. A sick little girl needed his help. He knew he had to do the right thing, especially because he was in Sierra Leone on humanitarian efforts.
The Song!
Tom even remembered singing the songs in Krio to Maya. It was a very substantial day for the both of them for multiple reasons…
Problem After Problem
Tom said, “There was some serious drama on each leg of the trip, as there should have been under the circumstances, but we worked with officials and some angels at the airlines to make sure Maya got home safely to her grandmother’s care.”
What Made It All Worth It
So, what made it all worth it? “One of the happier moments in my life was seeing Maya run into her grandmother’s arms.”
Missed The Funeral
In trying to get Maya to her grandmother, they ran into more problems in the airport. Eventually, Tom missed his final flight that would have gotten him to his grandmothers funeral on time.
Sesay Was Devastated
Sesay felt horrible at the revelation. “That really dampened my heart. It was horrible – I didn’t realize.” Tom told her to not worry and that it was in the past. They started a nice conversation up that day and have stayed in touch ever since. Maya, on the other hand, took this amazing story to twitter.
Sharing on Twitter
“My mom has been trying to find this man for 15 years – we never got his name or anything,” Maya tweeted. “My mom emailed him, and this man remembered everything. He said he never forgot about me or the songs he was [trying] to sing in Krio… He had told his family about it and everything.”
He Was A Life Savor
Maya ended the story with, “There’s a HUGE possibility I wouldn’t be here today if this man didn’t bring me back over here. Finding him after 15 years is really [crazy] because I thought about it a lot. He didn’t have to help me. He didn’t owe me anything. I’m so, so grateful!”
Warmed Many Peoples’ Hearts
The story went viral and eventually reached Tom on Twitter. He commented, “One of the craziest experiences of my entire life is now a Twitter thread, and I could not be happier to know you are shining bright, Maya!”
Meeting In Person
After speaking online with each other, Sesay and Tom decided that it was best to finally meet once again! Tom wrote, “It’s been an emotional week, and I think I didn’t realize how much closure I needed on the experience.”
A Good Person
Sesay and Maya wanted to get across the fact that Tom was a genuinely good person, which goes a long way in politics. They wanted to share this story of his amazing deed as a Thank You.
Thank You
“If it wasn’t for him I don’t know how I would’ve made it back. We’ve been trying to find him because we never really got to say thank you,” Maya said.
He Changed Maya’s Life
Maya wanted to see him again so badly. He changed her life in so many ways just by his good deeds. Sesay felt the same way, saying, “For 15 years I was looking for this ghost. I hope to meet with him to get the opportunity to shake his hand, hug him and thank him for having done that.”
Twitter Loved It
This story even affected strangers on the internet. One Twitter user wrote, “This story has all the feels. It’s terrifying for you and your mom and scary but brave for you… Brave of the stranger, too, to take this child to safety. The relief when you make it. Discovery when you find him again… AMAZING!”
Faith In Humanity
Another person tweeted, “Standing in a bar with tears in my eyes. What a great story, thank you so much for sharing. We need reminders that humanity is alive.”