United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother [View all]

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http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/travel/united-flight-delay-dying-mother/

United Airlines delays flight for man to see dying mother
By Katia Hetter, CNN
updated 6:36 PM EST, Wed March 6, 2013

(CNN) -- If Kerry Drake missed his connecting flight, he wouldn't get to the hospital in time to say goodbye to his mother.

Drake got the news on the morning of January 24 that his mother, who had been ill for years from rheumatoid arthritis and had been especially sick the last four months, was dying.

To get to his mother in Lubbock, Texas, the San Francisco resident booked a United Airlines flight, with only 40 minutes between connecting flights in Houston. When his first flight was delayed, Drake thought he would miss his connecting flight to Lubbock, the last one of the day.

He started crying, obviously distraught. The flight attendants brought napkins for his tears, said they would do what they could to help, and most importantly, got his connecting flight information to the captain, he told CNN.