Linzey Strommen was faced with the kindness of a stranger during an international flight
Credit: Linzey Strommen; linzeyisamom/TikTok
NEED TO KNOW
- Linzey Strommen underwent surgery to remove her tailbone after a roller-skating injury caused severe pain and arthritis
- Her doctor told her she needed a lay-flat seat, but she wasn’t able to secure an upgrade
- A TikTok video of a woman’s in-flight kindness went viral with 2 million views
Long flights can be uncomfortable for everyone, but adding an injury to the mix can make it nearly unbearable.
Linzey Strommen broke her tailbone while roller-skating to a Taylor Swift song at her daughter’s birthday party two years ago.
“I ignored the pain for a long time, but when it finally became unbearable, I went to the doctor to find that my tailbone was in pieces, no longer connected to my spine and was essentially floating around, creating a web of inflamed tissue and had become arthritic," she tells PEOPLE.
"So I had to remove it completely to get any relief,” the 40-year-old adds.
In November 2025, Strommen underwent a coccygectomy, a surgical procedure to remove all or part of the tailbone.
Just two months later, she had to travel from Los Angeles to Copenhagen for work. Her doctor recommended that she get a flat seat when traveling for extended periods of time, but she ultimately lost the bid.
“Because I travel so often, I was pretty confident I would be able to secure an upgrade and took the risk," she shares. "However, it didn’t work out and the gate agent told me she would give me an empty row so I could lie down, but she couldn’t make any promises that the seats wouldn’t be taken."
Despite hoping for her own space on the plane, another woman sat down in her row. The fellow passenger had a bad knee and was also told she may have the row to herself.
“We both began discussing ways to support each other through the flight. She would lie down across the two empty seats for half, me the other half,” Strommen says.
@linzeyisamom Spare me the barefoot on a plane BS please, I get it but the woman is in pain & shit happens.
♬ Scott Street (Slowed Down) – Phoebe Bridgers
However, before the doors closed, "an older woman came and took the third out of four seats in our row."
While the two injured women assumed that meant they'd be in for a cramped ride, Strommen was shocked by what happened next.
"She immediately noticed my new friend tending to her hurt knee and insisted she keep her leg up and began a 30-plus-minute reflexology massage," Strommen recalls. "Throughout the flight, the three of us women of all different backgrounds and ailments cared for each other in different ways and it was really heartwarming."
While the massage was only a small portion of the lengthy travel day, she notes that they "all checked in on each other through the duration of the flight."
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Strommen shares that it was “an honor to witness such humanity.”
She posted a short video from the flight to her TikTok account, and it went viral, amassing 2 million views.
“The lady next to me and I both just had surgery and thought we may have the row to ourselves. We didn’t, we had something better," she captioned the clip. "Another complete stranger ended up in our row. She noticed her pain and insisted on helping. The level of care and humanity from a complete stranger in this sad world.”
Credit: linzeyisamom/TikTok
Strommen says that the response to the video has been “surprisingly positive!”
“I was ready to get a lot of hate comments, and there were some, but mostly people were also in awe of the kindness and care," she tells PEOPLE.
She emphasizes that travel "can bring out the best or worst in people," but she was thrilled to have experienced the former.
“It’s a very vulnerable experience, and worth challenging yourself to have extra empathy for others because of that," she says.
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