Rubin Swift traveled from Cleveland to Phoenix in April 2018 to meet his newborn daughter and bring her home to the hospital. Rubin received custody of the baby and was so excited to take her back to his hometown in Ohio.

When the new father left the hospital with his four-day-old daughter, the couple arrived at the airport. Rubin approached the ticket officer at the counter and removed a doctor’s note confirming that the baby was allowed to fly-but it didn’t matter. He was told by the officer that they couldn’t board the plane.

Rubin was outraged as the ticket agent explained that the airline prohibits flying babies younger than seven days. What did could he do now? Rubin knew nobody in Phoenix. He was about to be stranded for three days with a newborn baby with nowhere to go and nobody to turn to. Then a face appeared in the worried mind of Rubin. On the day he met his newborn daughter back at the hospital, he remembered going into the maternity ward and seeing an elderly woman and a volunteer from the hospital named Joy holding Ru-Andria. Although he spoke for a couple of minutes to Joy, he knew that she was kind and nurturing.

Rubin found the phone number for Joy. He didn’t think she would even remember him, but he took a chance and called her with no other options and a newborn in tow. What followed was a three-day act of kindness that became viral and touched millions of hearts.