When Rubin Swift walked into the hospital to meet his newborn daughter Ru-Andria, she was being held by a stranger named Joy Ringhofer.
Though they didn’t know each other they both had a newfound love for the little girl.
“I sat down and was rocking her when her father came in and we sort of made a connection right away,” Ringhofer, who volunteers at the hospital, told Inside Edition.
Swift had traveled to Arizona all the way from Ohio and would have to fly back home with his 4-day old daughter that he just got custody of.
“I explained to the airline that I was going to fly back with her,” Swift said. “They told me the policy was that I needed some documentation from the hospital saying that she was clear to fly. I got all that.”
But when he returned to the airport with his baby and her documentation he was told that she wouldn’t be able to fly for three more days and their policy was that babies could only fly if they were seven days old or more.
“I asked for my money. They said it would take seven days to get your money back,” Swift told azfamily.com.
Now Swift was stranded at the airport without money for a hotel or a car to drive home.
“I can’t sleep at the airport with a newborn,” he said. “Who knows what could happen they could take my baby away from me.”
So, he decided to call the kind woman at the hospital to see if she could help. And Ringhofer was more than happy to help.
“I had such a strong feeling that I needed to do this for him,” said Ringhofer. “I know he was a kind and safe man to have in my home and he has been a perfect gentleman.”
Ringhofer told Swift that she was on her way to pick him up and “bring him home.”
“I didn’t expect her to say, ‘I’m coming to get you and take you home.’ So, I’m thinking, ‘She is going to drive me back to Cleveland’ but she actually brought me to her house and has been feeding me and making sure my baby is alright,” Swift said.
Swift was overwhelmed by this complete stranger’s selflessness.
“We’re two different colors and she opened up her door and it never was an issue,” said Swift. “My color was never an issue. She loves my baby. She held her. My baby was with her all night. Who does that?”
Eventually, Swift and his daughter flew back to Phoenix and the airline agreed to waive any fees associated with the changes he had to make to his flight.
“She’s just beautiful and wonderful. She’s been so good,” Ringhofer said. “I’m gonna really miss her when she’s gone.”
But Ringhofer won’t have to worry about that.
Swift promised to come back and visit soon.
“She’s the grandmother to my child now,” Swift told CBS News.
“She could have said ‘It’s your problem’ and hung up the phone,” he told Inside Edition. “So, you know, I thank God for her and the staff at the hospital.”
Learn more about this amazing story of compassion and kindness in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
