Pilot gives heartwarming surprise to mom on her first flight home after his dad's passing

Becoming a pilot is no small feat and requires years of dedication and hard work to achieve. Jerome Lawrence, who is a successful pilot at United Airlines, had to face a lot of challenges in his life to achieve the milestone, as reported by Good Morning America. He credits most of his success to his parents, Gwendoline and John Lawrence. One of his biggest dreams was to be able to fly his parents as an airline pilot because of how much they helped him in life. Unfortunately, his father passed away last Christmas, which is why he did not want to waste any time and decided to surprise his mother when she was returning home to Tobago. 

The 34-year-old documented his mother's reaction to the surprise in a heartwarming Instagram video. It has got 8,860 views and 185 comments so far and was also reposted by United Airlines on Mother's Day. We get to see Lawrence in his pilot attire at the start of the video, looking into the camera and saying, "All right, so today is a big day for me. Trying to surprise Mommy." The young pilot shares how his mother does not know that he is the one flying the plane. "The problem is that she might see me board, but I'm hoping to avoid that," he states. 

Lawrence then briefly showcases his mother, who is waiting to board the flight. The video cuts to reveal his mother sitting in the plane and looking at him with a big smile on her face as he begins making announcements. After providing a brief intro, he says, "It's a special moment for me that I'd like to share with you guys. A lady sitting in here in first class, she's my mom. It's my first time flying her." The pilot also reveals that this is his first time returning to the Caribbean islands in 17 years. 

He proceeds to say, "I can't even begin to express how important it is to share this moment with you. It's been a long road for us. My dad should have been here on this flight. But he decided to fly higher than all of us. He's up there with the other angels watching over us, and so, again, thank you for flying United. Thank you for being here with us." Lawrence ended his emotional message by imploring parents to encourage their children to do great things and stating how he could not have found success without the help of his parents. 

People who saw the video were deeply touched and shared their thoughts in the comments section. @sirfira2high said, "This is absolutely amazing. I hope one day when I fly for United, I will be able to do this." @rellutrell commented, "This is awesome. What a great mother and a great son. Happy Mother's Day to all the moms everywhere." @flyheatherfly expressed, "Note to self: watch this again before putting on eye makeup." The pilot's mother shared that she had no idea about the surprise and was emotionally overwhelmed when she got to know about it. 

You can follow Jerome Lawrence (@welta_1) on his Instagram page for more updates about his career as a pilot.