published on August 06, 2024 in New

Man stranded for 7 nights at Florida airport makes it home with help of stranger

Man stranded for 7 nights at Florida airport makes it home with help of stranger (WWMT)

HOLLAND, Mich. (WWMT) —

A Michigan man is finally home after repeated flight cancellations and delays left him sleeping on the floor of Florida's Orlando International Airport for the last week.

Man%20stranded%20for%207%20nights%20at%20Florida%20airport%20makes%20it%20home%20with%20help%20of%20stranger%20(WWMT)

Harold Tibbe owes his homecoming to another family from Holland, people he'd never met until they heard his plight and tracked him down.

Tibbe was on his way home to Holland from Las Vegas, where he lived the past seven months, and was sent to Orlando, where he expected to catch a flight on Frontier to the Gerald Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

However, that flight was cancelled.

I had to sleep on the floor and chairs all that time," Tibbe said. "The airlines wouldn’t give me a motel pass, they said they didn’t have to.”

Tibbe even had to leave the airport once to see a doctor about his high blood pressure.

“I could feel it, I felt like I was going to faint, I’m sure I was about 180, 190, that could cause a stroke," Tibbe said.

After a long 168 hours alone, Tibbe met Mitchelle Gabriele, a man on vacation with his family in Orlando also on his way back to Holland.

Before this encounter, Gabriele read on Facebook that the 70-year-old had been stuck for several days. After searching through several terminals yelling out Tibbe's name, Gabriele finally found him eating a burger at a restaurant in the airport.

Gabriele gave Tibbe clean socks and assured him he would get home.

“I’m just grateful people help me; I’ve never had this before," Tibbe said.

After talking with Tibbe, Gabriele said not having a smartphone made it difficult for him, as he kept missing flight notifications.

They should be accommodating people; it doesn’t matter if you have a smartphone or not, you purchased a ticket, and they should put you in a motel and take care of you,” Tibbe said.

The two men were scheduled to fly out on the same flight Wednesday night, but their flight was canceled.

Gabrelle then helped Tibbe get a hotel for the night and rescheduled a flight out of Sanford through Allegiant at 10:30 a.m. Thursday to arrive at the Gerald R Ford International Airport. With not enough seats on that flight, Gabrielle decided to drive back and let Tibbe get on.

Tibbe's Allegiant flight was delayed one more time Thursday, finally arriving at 2 p.m. With all the troubles Tibbe has experienced, he said won’t be traveling by air anytime soon.

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