A woman trying to get to her father's funeral found herself approaching strangers for help, according to ABC News. Jelena Ma was trying to get from Detroit to New York City on June 28 when her flight was canceled after having already been delayed for five hours.
"While I was waiting in line to transfer my ticket to another flight, Jelena approached me to explain her situation," Zach Rotter, 21, told ABC. "Her father's funeral was the next morning at 9 a.m. in New York City.
"She wanted to drive there because the next flight to get into the city wasn't until the following afternoon," Rotter continued.
The previous few night had found Ma up late, arranging the funeral, leaving her too tired to dive the 614 miles she needed to go by herself. In addition to Rotter, Leanne Falzon, agreed to rent a car with Ma and make the journey by car.
"There were people backed up in the airport for days to get to New York," Falzon, 20, said. "We all had work we had to get to.
"As soon as she said she had an empty spot in the car, I talked to the ticket agent," Falzon continued.
The three strangers were met at the airport, where they were driven to Ann Arbor, where Ma had a car. They then had dinner and were on their way to New York by about 10 p.m.
"Jelena took the first shift for about an hour to get us onto the right highway," Rotter said. "She made a makeshift bed in the back seat for her children and the four of us rotated after that."
Nine hours later, the group arrived at Penn Station in New York at exactly 8:36 a.m. Ma's father's funeral began at 9 a.m. It was such a memorable experience that the group took a quick photo as they were getting out of the car, allowing Ma to get to the funeral.
"We took the picture as we were getting out of the car," Rotter said of the photo he posted to Reddit. "We shared that experience and couldn't believe we made it.
"It seems like it was straight out of a movie," Rotter continued. "Straight up surreal."
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