When a man and a teenager boarded a flight from Seattle to San Francisco, Alaska Airlines flight attendant Sheila Frederick became wary.
The man was elegantly dressed, but the girl was not and refused to meet anyone’s gaze.
Doing her job on board, Sheila couldn’t stop thinking about the girl.
Eventually she came up with an ingenious plan that took real courage – courage that saved this young girl from a dangerous situation.
Sheila Frederick, you are a hero my friend! @AlaskaAir flight attendant rescues girl, notices signs of human trafficking
Posted by Women Who Startup on Monday, 6 February 2017
Sheila couldn’t ignore the girl and desperately tried to make eye contact with her while handing out snacks on board the plane.
She shared her suspicions with a colleague and together they devised a plan to distract the man while Sheila tried to get the girl’s attention.
‘Eventually she looked up and the expression in her eyes was just heartbreaking, so I apologised and went backwards and just burst into tears,’ Sheila told Good Morning Britain.
She came up with a cunning plan: she left a note and pen in one of the plane’s toilets and locked it, only to open it for the girl.
While her colleague distracted the man, Sheila pointed to the toilet pretending to write something.
Then she waited and hoped the girl would understand.
She left a note and a pen in the toilet
Fortunately, the girl apologised and said she needed to go to the toilet.
The man stayed outside near the toilet, but Sheila refused to leave the place and kept her eyes on him.
‘I left a note in one of the toilets,’ Sheila said. ‘She responded to the note by saying, ‘I need help’.’
Sheila reported it to the pilot, who contacted air traffic control so the man could be detained by authorities upon landing.
Listen to the full story from the heroic flight attendant herself in the clip below.
Sheila has continued to stay in touch with the young woman she rescued from human trafficking, and the two have spoken several times over the years.
Now the young woman is even in college, the Western Journal reports.
‘If you see something, talk about it,’ Sheila advises others.
Please share this story to remind people to trust their instincts and to pay tribute to the brave and remarkable Sheila Frederick.
She is a shining example for all of us.
