Dubai: A Dubai Airport Duty Officer has won praise for helping a stranded boy fly home while his own house was flooded after the heaviest rainfall in the UAE on April 16.
The act of kindness came to light when Dubai Airports shared a video of the officer, Talal Al Saeed, recalling the experience on social media.
The post shared in appreciation of Al Saeed, a Duty Officer of Terminal Service Delivery, said his compassion extended beyond the call of his duty.
“When the #UAE faced its highest-ever rainfall recently, Talal, despite his own home being flooded up to the first floor, stayed at the airport to care for our stranded guests. Here, he found a child travelling alone, diverted to DWC [Al Maktoum International Airport in Dubai World Central], and unable to make it to his connecting flight at #DXB [Dubai International Airport] as he was categorised as an ‘unaccompanied minor’,” the post by DXB on social media platform X stated.
The video attached to the post showed Al Saeed narrating how he befriended the young traveller and went above and beyond to get him to his destination safely.
How boy was helped
“A few days ago, we faced the highest rainfall ever in the UAE,” Al Saeed said in the video.
The week-long disruption had resulted in around 2,100 flight cancellations and diversions in Dubai.
“During the disruptions, I was in DWC and doing my inspections,” he recalled.
On seeing the child sitting alone, he said, he approached him and asked him why he was there, sitting alone.
The boy then explained to him that he was a student and he couldn’t leave the airport because he was 14-years-old.
“The child’s face made me happy because his smile was like my child’s smile,” Al Saeed recalled.
In no time, Al Saeed contacted the Emirates Airline’s unaccompanied minor service to provide a guardian for him to transport him from DWC to DXB.
“So, once they came there, we cleared him through immigration. We got the tracking for the driver to track him through Google Maps once he went to the guardian.”
Before bidding bye, the grateful boy requested for a photo with Al Saeed.
“You know this feeling; it motivates me with a genuine desire to make a positive impact,” Al Saeed said, showing pictures with the boy and expressing how the incident moved him to be even more proactive and helpful.
