Traveling can be a stressful experience. From layovers to flight changes to lost luggage, there are plenty of ways a relaxing getaway can turn into a stressful nightmare. In fact, thousands of travelers experience the dread of learning their luggage has been delayed or lost every single hour. Stacy Hurt joined that unhappy lot when her luggage failed to make it to the Pittsburgh Airport with her.
But for Stacy, losing her bag was more than just an inconvenience. Her bag contained some incredibly valuable items that could not be replaced. You see, Stacy was diagnosed with colon cancer on her 44th birthday. The married mother of two went through the prescribed treatment at the time of her diagnosis, but her situation requires that she continue maintenance chemotherapy for the rest of her life.
But important items, like her lucky rosary and some supplementary medications, had traveled with her in the bag the very bag that had been lost. To make matters worse, Stacy had a chemotherapy session scheduled for the very next morning. “I immediately panicked,” Stacy shared with a local news team. She quickly called the airline to try and find out what had happened to her bag.
When Stacy placed the call to the Southwest Airlines desk at the Pittsburgh International Airport, she had no idea how lucky she was to have Sarah Rowan pick up on the other end.
Overwhelmed and in tears, Stacy explained her situation, hoping that Sarah would understand how devastated she was that her luggage was missing. Sarah immediately began making calls to other airports, doing everything she could to locate the bag. Once she had found it, she made sure that it was on the next available flight to Pittsburgh.
But when the bag arrived at the airport around 2:00 a.m. in the morning, there were no couriers on duty to deliver the bag to Stacy. But Sarah wasn’t about to let that keep the important contents of the luggage from reaching its destination. So Sarah took the bag, got in her car, and drove the luggage to Stacy’s home. At 3:00 a.m., Sarah delivered the bag to Stacy’s doorstep. She left a voicemail message letting Stacy know that her bag had made it and that it was waiting at her front door.
Stacy was overcome with gratitude when she opened her door the next morning to find all of her items safe and intact. She also found a hand-written note from Sarah, encouraging her in her in her fight against cancer. Stacy was so touched by Sarah’s kindness that she wanted to make sure that Southwest knew how much Sarah’s efforts had meant to her.
“You never know what that person on the other end of the phone is going through,” Stacy shared. “So take the extra minute, go the extra mile, do something good for them. You never know how it will impact their life.”
