Some might say that it’s luck that saved Michael Garth Sr.’s life after the Waffle House shooting back in April – others might say it was fate. Regardless, he credits his survival to a waitress whose simple actions led to his survival.
Virginia Stanley had been working at the restaurant in Antioch, Tennessee when Garth and his friends walked in looking for a meal. Since the waitress was washing dishes, she suggested that the group sit at a different table because she didn’t want to splash water on them.
This small suggestion put Garth and his friends just out of range of the gunfire that later hit the restaurant.
In the month following the incident, Garth’s mother Vickie Davis became determined to track down Stanley and thank her for the little gesture that saved her son’s life.
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By chance, Davis was getting her tires changed when she happened to run into the Waffle House’s former manager, who then put her in touch with Stanley’s fiancé. As the two chatted, Stanley’s fiancé told Davis that they were soon getting married and his bride-to-be had been trying to get a wedding dress for the ceremony.
So as a means of repaying the waitress for her kindness, Davis contacted Glitz Nashville bridal store about securing a dress. Since the shop gives free dresses to women in the military, Davis, who is an Army veteran, made a special request to the store and asked them to donate a dress to Stanley.
Though it took some persistence, the store eventually obliged and gave Stanley her dream wedding dress for free.
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Stanley and her fiancé have expressed their love and gratitude towards Davis for her compassion, but the determined mother isn’t done yet. Stanley has been in and out of the hospital since the shooting, and she has difficulty being around loud noises or large crowds – so now, Davis wants to pair Stanley with a therapy dog to help her deal with her anxiety.
“I’m on a mission today to try and find someone to donate her a service dog,” Davis told CNN. “I don’t know how, but I’ll do my best to make it happen.”
Be Sure And Share This Sweet Story Of Kindness With Your Friends – Photo by Michael Garth Sr.