Seth Craven had already travelled back to the United States from his deployment in the Middle East so that he could see the birth of his son when a storm caused his final flight to be delayed. Just when it seemed like he would miss the birth of his child, a stranger stepped up to save the day in the best way possible.

Seth is a sergeant with the National Guard who was stationed in Afghanistan and was granted leave so that he could witness the birth of his son. He had just landed in Philadelphia from Kuwait when a storm led to his flight home to Charleston, West Virginia being cancelled last week.

With his wife scheduled to give birth via C-section last Friday morning, Seth bought a plane ticket to Charleston for early Thursday morning. Sadly, that flight was delayed multiple times, causing Seth to find himself stranded in Pennsylvania. Seth felt like he was running out of options, and he became more and more distressed. His other passengers soon started talking to one another about his situation, which is how Charlene Vickers heard about it.

Charlene and her colleagues were on a deadline to attend a health conference in Charleston on Friday afternoon, and since she is from Philadelphia, her car was already parked at the airport ready to go.

“They kind of pointed to this gentleman and said that ‘poor soul really needs to get back,’” Charlene said. “That’s when I introduced myself … and said, ‘I’m getting to West Virginia tonight, come hell or high water. So are you willing to join this crazy party of ours?’”

Not even waiting for his luggage, Seth jumped in the car with Charlene, and off they went! After driving for eight hours, Seth was dropped off at his house just after midnight, and he got to be by his wife’s side when she gave birth the next day.

“If it wasn’t for Charlene I never would have made it,” Seth said. “All she wanted in return was pictures of the baby.”

Seth is hoping that this story will serve as a reminder that there really are good people in the world.

“It’s been an awesome few days,” he said. “I definitely want people to realize there are nice people out there.”