Telford man returns from Dubai following Mums airport plea
A mother has spoken of her overwhelming relief after a direct plea to airline staff at Manchester Airport secured a flight home for her son, who had been stranded in Dubai amidst escalating regional tensions.
Reuben Evans had travelled to the United Arab Emirates a week ago to visit a friend, but the holiday took a distressing turn as the security situation in the Middle East shifted. Major carriers, including Emirates and Gulf Air, have faced significant disruptions this week, with many flights cancelled or rerouted due to the closure of Lebanese, Jordanian, and Iraqi airspace following missile activity in the region.
Mum Lorna described a week of sleepless nights watching “missiles flying above being intercepted” via her son’s reports, while Life 360 GPS glitches added to the family’s anxiety.
“We as a family have not slept at peace for seven days,” she said. “It’s been like keeping our heads above water to breathe, to retain every last breath of hope to see him home back safe.”
The situation reached a breaking point yesterday when her son’s original flight to Birmingham was cancelled. With phone lines and live chats overwhelmed by the crisis, the mother, who was working in Manchester at the time, decided to head directly to Terminal 2 to find a human connection.
After a tense wait for staff to arrive at the Emirates desk, she made an impassioned plea for her son’s return.
“My plea was to try and find a seat for him to return as soon as possible, as the system was closed off for re-booking cancelled bookings until 7th March,” she explained. “The staff quietly chatted amongst themselves, asked for personal details and evidence of the original booking, and asked me to check his inbox.”
Fifteen minutes later, a new ticket had been issued for a flight arriving into Manchester on Thursday evening.
“As I controlled my emotional collapse, I expressed my gratitude and commented that no one had ever done something that kind in my life,” she said. “His [the staff member’s] words were… ‘I’ve never experienced a Mum walk into an airport, have tea, wait just to speak to us and plea for a son to return home from a holiday which turned into a very volatile, unpredictable situation.'”
It was an emotional airport reunion as Reuben landed at 6pm, where he revealed that four fighter aircraft escorted his plane to safer airspace.
The family’s relief is tempered by the fact that his friend remains stranded after two cancelled flights with a different airline.
“We continue to pray for his safe return to us in Shropshire,” she added.
