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Savannah Phillips was on a United Airlines flight from Oklahoma to Chicago on Monday, where she was seated next to a man she described as “in his 60s with yellow sunglasses who claimed to be a comedian.”
She made a post where she wrote “As soon as I got buckled, he sat back down… his phone was maybe 12 inches from my face and he proceeded to text someone that he was sitting next to a ‘smelly fatty.'”
“I don’t even know what the rest of his text said,” she wrote. “I turned my head away as fast as I could. I was shocked and it was like confirmation of the negative things I think about myself daily. Before I knew it, I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face.”
She wrote: “He tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘I need to talk to you.’ The guy took his earphones out and turned around and he said, ‘We’re switching seats right now.'”
The other passenger told the comedian he would not tolerate offensive text messages.
The two men switched seats immediately.
Phillips recounted: “When he sat down he saw me crying and asked why I was crying. He said not to let it get to me and not to worry about it, and we started making small talk which made me feel better.”
She later learned that the man who helped her was Chase Irwin, a manager at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row bar and restaurant in Nashville.
Irwin took a photo of the man and posted it on Snapchat with the caption: “This guy, probably mid-50s, just texted his wife that he was sitting next to a smelly fatty and was about to vomit. I watched her read his text and is now looking sad. Should I New Mexico slap the **** out of him or just say something when landing?”
Phillips didn’t know Irwin’s name, so she posted on Facebook asking for help identifying the good Samaritan.
Irwin stated that he did not intervene for publicity.
“I was going to wait until the end of the flight to say something, but I couldn’t have this guy sitting next to her this whole flight and her thinking he’s making fun of her. It gets to me deep down when I see someone crying, and when I saw her crying it really hit me hard, and actually got sick to my stomach,” he said.
He told NewsChannel 5 that when the fat-shamer asked him why he wanted to swap seats, he responded: “Because you’re a heartless person, I read your text, and the girl next to you crying also read your text. And you should take into consideration other people’s feelings.”
“I was so blessed and happy he was there. I hope it sets a good example for others for what they should do in situations like that and to stick up for people when they need help,” Phillips said. “The flight attendant kept trying to give him free drinks and told him he was her hero. He wasn’t her hero – he was mine.”
“I want to feel a little more beautiful today,” she added.
