Mother searches for Elyria good Samaritan who gave up ticket so she could see her dying son

ELYRIA, Ohio - It was an act of kindness Mary Lou Hamper of Inverness, Florida will never forget.

Hamper was trapped in Charlotte, North Carolina, because of an overbooked connecting flight to Cleveland on Nov. 17.

It seemed she would never be able to see her dying son before he passed away. The next flight to Cleveland would delay her several hours.

However, a good Samaritan from Elyria stepped forward and gave up her seat, allowing Hamper to be at her son's bedside just hours before he passed away.

"When you lose your child, it's like a part of you is gone," said Hamper, with a tear in her eye. " I really want to find the woman who gave up her seat on that flight. I know her family is from Elyria, but I never got her name."

Hamper's granddaughter, Regina Bialas booked  the flight on U.S. Airways, hoping her grandmother would get home in time to see her son, 58-year-old Bobby Jenkins of Columbia Station. Jenkins had been battling cancer for the past three years.

"She has no idea what she did for our family," Bialas said. "What she did, those last moments that my grandmother got to spend with her son, when that woman said 'Take my ticket.'"

5 On Your Side contacted U.S. Airways corporate headquarters, and the company is working on getting both women in touch with each other. U.S. Airways was so inspired by the story, it issued the good Samaritan a free, round-trip ticket to anywhere in the continental United States, because she gave up her seat.

"Well, I hope she see's this story, and that God will bless her for what she did for me," said Hamper. "I know she will get her reward."

Anyone with information on the identity of the good Samaritan on flight 2656 from Charlotte to Cleveland can contact 5 On Your Side Troubleshooter Joe Pagonakis, at 216-431-HELP (4357).