Woman was battling the ‘worst flight anxiety’ — until something unexpected appeared through the seat gap to comfort her

She shared that she was battling the worst flight anxiety when an unexpected 'little angel' appeared to comfort her.

PUBLISHED 14 HOURS AGO

(L ) A woman experiencing flight anxiety ; (R) Aircraft seats (Representative Cover Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Peter Dazeley ; (R) Witthaya Prasongsin)

Flights can cause significant anxiety for some of us, and sometimes when we can't even share our fears. When Sophia experienced the "worst flight anxiety," she was comfort in the most unexpected way. Sharing a sweet clip on her TikTok account, Sophia appreciated the special soul that calmed her down.

A woman crying on a flight. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Boy_Anupong) — A woman looks unwell on a flight. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Boy_Anupong)

TikTok user Sophia (@sophie444.jpg) was on a flight, and she experienced the "worst flight anxiety." Sharing her experience online, she filmed the incident, but the part that captured everyone’s attention left viewers floored. Sophia revealed that when her anxiety spiked, she was aided by a special someone. It wasn’t a friend, a co-passenger, or the airline crew. It was, rather, a service dog. In her video, the dog, seated in the row ahead of her, was seen poking its head through the small gap between the seats. It rested its chin for a moment before gently extending a paw toward her, almost as if sensing her unease and trying to offer quiet comfort.

A service dog, walks with its owner, through and airport terminal. (Representative Image Source: Getty Images | Greggory DiSalvo)

Capturing the sweet moment, Sophia wrote, "I was having the worst flight anxiety, and here comes this little angel." Perhaps the dog was just trying to check who was seated behind, or, just like Sophia's intuition, the dog indeed "sensed" anxiety. While it's not entirely clear what intention the service dog had, it has been widely studied that domestic dogs can distinguish between psychological stress conditions in humans.

A woman holding a dog's paw (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Ivan Babydov) — A woman holding a dog's paw. (Representative Image Source: Pexels | Photo by Ivan Babydov)

According to PLOS One, a 2022 study published by Queen’s University Belfast tested 36 humans who provided sweat and breath samples, before and after a stress-inducing mental arithmetic task. Four trained dogs had to identify the conditions, achieving a 93.75% accuracy rate. The findings further concluded that dogs can detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are produced by humans during psychological stress.

@sophie444.jpg he could sense it 😂🥺 #servicedog #traveltok #flightanxiety ♬ clay pigeons - 𝐥 𝐨 𝐯 𝐞 𝐲 𝐨 𝐮

The video posted by Sophia went viral and garnered 1.1 million views on TikTok, with thousands of users sharing their thoughts and stories in the comment section. A user named @nzpapz recounted a similar situation during a flight, where a dog was seen turning back to check on her. The user wrote, "I remember thinking I was the chosen one when this happened to me on a flight." @chloe joked, "'Hi there. I’m sensing some anxiety, and I, as a trained professional, am ready to be of service." @Jess shared, "I flew with my service dog, and the woman next to us, the people across the aisle, and the man behind us all thanked me for bringing him. It was his first flight. When we landed, the pilot said, 'and a round of applause for Jasper, who did amazing.' Everyone clapped for him, and he looked so proud."

For more pet-related content, follow @sophie444.jpg on TikTok.