Airport Staff Spot A Crying Soldier, Then They Hear “Don’t Let Him Board The Flight!”

airport staff spot a crying soldier then they hear don't let him board the flight [Music] [Applause] may 4th 2018 started like any other airport workers at dallas fort worth international airport got ready for a long day of getting travelers to where they needed to go in the afternoon airline staff at a gate noticed something odd a soldier in a combat uniform sitting and staring intently at his phone for a long time at first they let him be and he wasn't bothering anyone however when he started openly crying they knew something was wrong furthermore his flight needed to take off so the staff decided to approach the soldier that's when they heard someone yell don't let him board the flight when they finally discovered why spc brooks lindsay was crying they couldn't help but wonder what had led to the day's strange events brooks lindsey and his wife hayley wilson met in 2015 in their hometown in jackson mississippi from the moment they started dating they became inseparable falling deeply in love ever since he was a little boy lindsay had always wanted to become a soldier for the us army luckily lindsay accomplished his goal and joined with wilson right there beside him following the enlistment the young couple married in 2017 becoming the lindsays while brooks and haley were still pretty young they couldn't wait to start a family together shortly after the couple exchanged their heartwarming vows they received one of the best news of their lives when brooks and hayley lindsey married in november of 2017 they had no idea that haley was already pregnant with a couple's first baby however once the newlyweds found it out they couldn't hold back their excitement when they told their family and friends it was clear they could not wait to hold their first child in just nine short months from there time flew soon enough haley started heading to doctor's appointments ultrasounds baby classes and more all with brooks by her side at one of the first ultrasounds the doctor gave the couple some incredible news they would have a baby girl in a short time while brooks wanted nothing more than to stay home and support his wife through the pregnancy duty knocked at the door as mentioned he had joined the army after joining brooks became part of the 2nd battalion 114th field artillery regiment as such he needed to go to fort bliss texas for training afterward brooks would then deploy to kuwait for a full nine-month tour although brooks wasn't ready to say goodbye to his lovely wife and unborn child he had no other choice meanwhile haley's pregnancy was progressing well enough without knowing if he would witness the birth of his daughter brooks started getting ready for his shipment the day came for brooks to leave on his tour he kissed goodbye to a seven month pregnant haley and headed off to the airport to make it to his flight while the couple felt disappointed they knew that as a soldier brook's job came first as we said they must make sacrifices they both hoped they might find a way for brooks to witness the birth of his daughter thankfully before he left brooks and haley decided on a name millie they both simply adored the name for their new baby girl although brooks felt terrible about leaving his wife he was also excited to begin his training as a soldier the two of them had no idea where their journey would take them however as the pregnancy continued to progress everything seemed to be going well other than a little high blood pressure haley felt and did just fine most importantly baby milly continued to grow strong and healthy while hayley wanted brooks to be there so he could see the baby as well she knew that he was fulfilling his duty as a soldier haley and the entire lindsay family could not wait for the baby girl to arrive at this point it was just a few weeks until the mother would be able to embrace her daughter however haley did feel a little nervous about the high blood pressure especially since this was their first child meanwhile she still hoped brooks could come home unfortunately few soldiers can return for the birth of their children first the red cross actually has to sign off on the case saying the soldiers leave is worth it however it isn't as easy as it sounds brooks and i have been practicing my call to the red cross because we heard it was really hard to get men home for births and we were told the only way it would actually work is if i was in distress haley said no matter how much they wanted brooks to return home for millie's birth it seemed like it would not happen as everything was going well with the pregnancy brooks had no valid reason to return for the birth of his daughter needless to say both the soldier and haley felt very displeased about it we were pretty upset about that because i was not having any issues with pregnancy other than a little high blood pressure haley said however everything would soon change quite drastically haley went to a routine haley went to a routine doctor's appointment one thursday morning there she believed that doctor would check on her and schedule an induction for a week out haley had already given all hopes up on brooks coming home for her labor but that wasn't exactly how things happened after haley arrived at her doctor's office they did the routine checkup surprisingly haley's blood pressure had gone through the roof the doctor had some distressing news this might mean that baby millie was experiencing some troubles inside the womb as such the doctor ordered extensive blood work done on haley to rule out any possible complications while they ran the tests haley's doctors sent her home to wait for the results as you can imagine the mother-to-be became incredibly anxious not knowing if there might be something wrong with her baby girl on the bright side that also meant that at least they would have a valid reason for brooks to be able to return home all of a sudden the phone started to ring we can only imagine how hayley must have felt waiting for the doctor to call her back and deliver the results just an hour after the doctor sent her home the phone started to ring when she picked up she couldn't believe her ears after telling brooks there was no problem in getting him home my doctor told me my pressure was too high and the baby was being stressed and i was pre-eclamptic haley recalled preeclamptic means that not only did the mother-to-be have high blood pressure but now it had also started to affect other organs like her liver and kidneys most importantly it could affect baby millie as well they had to act as quickly as possible because haley's condition continued to worsen by the minute the doctor decided they couldn't wait any longer worse still they had to induce haley into labor right away she told me to be at the hospital in an hour and they would go ahead and induce haley remembered at this point the most important thing was to keep both the mother and baby safe still haley needed to let brooks know her developments i called brooks frantic and he was so excited she said after all brooks could now gain emergency leave and see the birth of his baby girl however before getting on a flight back home the red cross needed to grant him that emergency leave as soon as haley let brooks know the situation he told her to call the red cross to let them know as well i then went on to call the red cross and let them know it was indeed an emergency they simply just needed clarification from my doctor i get to the hospital at 3 pm thursday and they confirmed my state haley explained after the red cross confirmed her condition they immediately granted brooks emergency leave while he felt excited to go home to be with his wife and child he was also scared because of his wife and child's delicate condition little did brooks know the next few days would be some of the worst and best of his life finally after so long it came time for brooks to return home while the soldier felt terrible he could not stand beside his wife brooks did his best to get back as soon as possible however as is the case with plane travel some hurdles appeared along the way first brooks needed to find the shortest soonest flight from el paso to jackson unfortunately he could only find one with a layover in dallas even worse all those flights for the day were full as such the soldier would need to wait until the following morning at 10 am to get a flight so brooks did all he could to remain at the airport when haley learned that brooks might not make it in time her heart broken too by the time he got to the hospital she understood time was not on her side i was sure that he would already have a baby by the time he arrived but at least he gets to come home for four days so i was taking whatever i could get haley recalled meanwhile brooks tried whatever he could to find an earlier flight but no luck the soldier and mother-to-be simply could not catch a break now it seemed like brooks would likely get home well after millie's birth while this was better than not returning home at all it didn't make either of them very happy unfortunately brooks and haley's rollercoaster ride had just started while brooks stayed trapped in an airport haley and millie remained in the hospital the following morning her water broke friday morning my water was broken at 7am and pittelson a drug often used in births began haley said later now the baby could appear at any moment meanwhile brooks's situation remained the same brooks arrived at the el paso airport ready for his 10 am flight to dallas to his surprise he had a short wait at security and boarded the flight with no issues hopefully all the problems were behind them and brooks might make it to his daughter's birth still he had a long way to go finally brooks boarded his plane at 10 am and landed in dallas around 2pm of course the first thing he did when he landed was call haley to see how things were going at that point the doctor told brooks she was already five centimeters dilated it seemed less and less likely that the soldier would make it home on time from there things got worse and worse brook's next flight received a delay pushing the takeoff time from 355 to 5 45 to the soldier this marked the final nail in the coffin with the delay it became impossible for brooks to witness his daughter's birth back at the hospital haley entered the final stages of labor just before she started giving birth haley made a split second decision i quickly made my decision on who would be in the room during labor and it was my stepmother deanne and my mother-in-law teresa the doctor came in to check on me at five o'clock and she said it was time to go remembered haley meanwhile brooks remained stranded in the dallas airport thousands of miles away from his lovely wife unsurprisingly he felt heartbroken not to be able to witness the birth of his first daughter however his mother teresa had something planned to make it possible during hayley's delivery the doctor specifically told everyone present not to record anything that happened inside the room however teresa would not stand aside with her arms folded and watch her son miss the birth of his daughter as son she decided to ignore the doctor and started dialing on her phone my mother-in-law secretly facetimed brooks and shoved the phone in front of her shirt haley recalled after all this was the only way that brooks would be able to see his baby girl come into the world soon enough however the doctors noticed and asked teresa about the camera right in the middle of haley's delivery the doctor noticed teresa acting strange soon enough he asked her about her bizarre behavior when i began to push the doctor asked what she was doing and she showed my doctor brooks's face on the screen and she realized what was going on haley said as it turns out a different doctor told them not to record one unfamiliar with the family situation however the lindsay's doctor understood the importance of the phone my doctor told her to pull the phone out and show him what was going on hayley remembered meanwhile brooks was utterly stunned the soldier couldn't believe he could actually see his wife giving birth to their beautiful daughter after the doctor allowed teresa to facetime brooks during the delivery he started speaking up and did what any husband would have support his wife brooks was telling me it was okay and i was doing so good and i heard him wincing and saying wow through my pushes haley recalled meanwhile the hours slipped by quickly before they knew it brooks needed to board his flight to jackson however he couldn't take his eyes off his phone's screen who can blame him this is the moment the soldier and his wife had waited for for so long as any new father would brooke started crying overtaken by his joy that's when he noticed airport staff coming toward him as they always do the airport staff started calling for the final passengers for the fight to jackson however brooks glued to his phone missed the announcements of course so one staff member approached him and nicely encouraged him to board the plane he'd miss his flight home after all brooks then went on to say they were making him bored and needed to get off as soon as she finally started to crown haley later recalled however he wasn't alone many travelers had noticed the soldier and they did everything possible to delay the flight a little longer one of them even ran up to the flight crew and asked them to slow it down then something even more unexpected occurred brooks was just about to give in and hang up the call when the doctor screamed don't let him board the flight she's here she's here suddenly the soldier went from nothing but tears to the biggest smile anyone had ever seen thankfully the airport personnel let him sit there and watch till it was over haley said millie fritz annie lindsay came into this world at 5 23 pm leaving her father plenty of time to still board the flight and head home to meet his new bundle of joy soon enough the word spread in the airport and everyone was surrounding the excited new father furthermore airport staff said the good feeling hung around in the terminal said the good feeling hung around in the terminal for the day even after brooke's plane left thankfully brooks did not have to board that plane alone not anymore there was a whole crowd of us around him we all felt like we were part of the family and when that baby was born and we could hear it crying it was just amazing a fellow passenger later recalled everybody was just beside themselves with excitement another passenger added across the country haley could also hear everyone cheering in the background it must have been such an incredible heartwarming scene to witness furthermore brooks felt beyond grateful for the flight's lucky delay to him it was a blessing if his flight hadn't been delayed brooks would have missed the birth of his baby girl honestly it was a blessing that he was delayed because he would have been in the air and he wouldn't have known anything at all said haley later instead brooks watched the whole thing live on his phone in the end everything worked out for the best in fact the soldier might be one of the only travelers ever to love a delay however brook still had a flight to hop on if all went well he'd make it to the hospital within the next couple of hours after all the soldier still needed to meet baby milly and hold her for the very first time once it was all over brooks finally boarded his flight back home after a long wait and a day full of emotions the soldier felt more than ready to return to his wife and daughter's side brooks turned off his phone knowing that in a couple of hours he would land in jackson while brooks was happier than ever he still wanted to make sure that haley and baby millie were doing well so the flight seemed to drag on forever thankfully two hours later brooks landed in jackson's airport afterward the soldier headed to the hospital where haley and millie waited for him after all that time brooks finally made it home when brooks finally made it to the hospital he was thrilled to learn that haley felt great her blood pressure started coming down after the birth and there weren't any further complications furthermore brooks learned everything about his beautiful baby girl like that millie weighed 7 pounds and 6 ounces and was 21 inches long most importantly however millie was healthy and strong though she came out two weeks early when brooks got to the hospital i asked all 17 people to clear the room hayley recalled it was time for baby milly to meet the soldier who struggled all day long to get to her her father brooks picked up his baby girl and held her for five minutes straight furthermore he kept saying to his wife wow i can't believe we just had a baby the soldier couldn't believe he had actually made it i held my daughter for the first time and i hugged and kissed my wife brooks said later it was emotional especially not being there for the actual birth to get to see her and hold her for the first time she's perfect he added unfortunately brooks could only stay for four days after that he would be on his way back to fort bliss as such the couple had to make the best out of the short time they had together over the next four days brooke spent his time learning to change dirty diapers snapping photos and waking up in the middle of the night to help haley and millie while some might hate this brooks loved every moment of it to the soldier being a father is one of the best things that ever happened to him however the couple had no idea that their story would soon make headlines across the country he told me about the people on his flight cheering and watching and i told him it would be crazy if ellen called haley joked the next morning the couple woke to see brooks plastered across the internet tracy dover one of brook's fellow passengers felt incredibly touched by the soldier's story as such she decided to record brooks as he watched the birth of his daughter after the flight dover posted it on facebook surprisingly the emotional video went viral within just a couple of hours this army soldier was on my delayed flight home yesterday to mississippi dover wrote he had to watch the birth of his daughter on facetime he was crying and our hearts were breaking we all gave him space when we heard the baby cry we all rejoiced for him i wanted to share this because i never want us to forget about our soldiers who serve us every day and the sacrifices they make the emotional video of brooks lindsay watching his baby's birth touched many hearts around the globe the next morning we woke up to someone telling us to check facebook where we had over a thousand shares and 20 000 likes we thought that was it but no way it's still going strong haley recalled within just a few days the video amassed more than 200 000 views brooks said that at the time he had no idea he was being filmed in the airport i was just in my own little zone brooks explained my only intentions were getting home to see my daughter being born but it turned into something much more than we had anticipated both haley and brooks were surprised by the overwhelming response from strangers wishing them all the best hayley said i have the sweetest messages and i also have other military wives and mothers messaging me about how i got in touch with the red cross and got him home and any tips we had random people bringing gifts to our room and nurses coming in and thanking brooks for his service it has been an amazing and emotional time full of so much support she continued brooke's regiment also congratulated the family on facebook by sharing a sweet picture of him and baby milly while brooks enjoyed his time at home with haley and millie he understood he needed to return to his mission so the soldier enjoyed those four days as thoroughly as he could before he knew it brooks needed to return to fort bliss to continue his training however this time brooks would have a beautiful story to share although it is never easy to leave your newborn child brooks and haley knew that they are doing the right thing by allowing him to serve his country after all it was always his dream and now brooks has one more reason to continue fighting for his country his beautiful baby milly furthermore the soldier and his new daughter facetimed regularly during his service term most people are not aware of the incredible sacrifices that a soldier needs to make in order to protect the country that they chose to serve brooks lindsay is living proof of what many soldiers have to endure over their military career thankfully today he is home and enjoying life with little milly thankfully today he is home and enjoying life with little milly unfortunately unlike brooks soldiers often have to miss children's births and birthdays or their wedding anniversary however many in the end believe it is all worth it no one knows the sacrifices of each soldier more than rick raley a brave veteran and wonderful husband father and role model just like brooks he was simply a soldier trying to get home to his pregnant wife when tragedy struck rayleigh born and raised in new york decided to join the army national guard back in 2004 while overseas the soldier alongside with his unit unofficially titled the avengers conducted over 200 combat missions and convoys furthermore soon enough rayleigh got on the lead truck of every mission in time rayleigh's unit became a part of his family and he would always protect them in 2008 raley's first deployment in iraq was finally coming to an end although he was an excellent soldier rayleigh couldn't wait to go back home you see at that moment his wife was five months pregnant and just like brooks lindsay he wanted to prepare for the birth of his son however a devastating incident happened just before he planned to return one day rayleigh's truck went on an everyday convoy suddenly he tripped suddenly he tripped on an improvised explosive device ied while most of his fellow soldiers were injured including himself his unit managed to make the two-mile trek back to base for their brave action during these events rayleigh and two other soldiers received purple hearts rayleigh managed to make it back home to his wife and unborn child at home however it came at a cost while rayleigh had no visible scars this soldier suffered a traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder ptsd from there things got worse just six months after returning from iraq rayleigh got in an almost fatal truck accident as a result he was paralyzed from the waist down however it was the emotional scars that continued to haunt the veteran while still trying to be the best husband and father he could raley struggled with ptsd as such he decided to take matters into his own hands attempting to find motivation and passion in life thankfully he found comfort in adaptive sports such as wheelchair basketball and cycling also known as hand cycling soon enough rayleigh discovered the boot campaign a life improving program for veterans to bridge the divide between military and civilian life now rick raley is making his way through the states trying to raise awareness and money for this incredible campaign the veteran is cycling 1500 miles from new york to florida where the wounded warriors abilities ranch is located raley hopes to raise at least 150 000 for his incredible cause it is stories like this one that inspires us and makes us grateful for all these amazing soldiers