A 77-Year-Old Man Was Lost at Night With No Phone. A Student on Her Way Home Walked Him All the Way to His Door

It was around eight o’clock at night, and a student was about to cycle home.

She heard an elderly man asking for help near the bicycle parking area. Most people would have pointed the way and pedaled off.

She didn’t. And what she did next has now been seen and shared by thousands of people.

A Voice in the Bicycle Parking Area

Her name is Naira Maisara Binte Abdullah. She is a student at the Institute of Technical Education, known as ITE, in Singapore.

That evening, she was near JEM, a shopping mall in Jurong East, getting ready to ride home.

That’s when she heard a man asking for help.

He was 77 years old. And he was lost.

He had come to the area to renew his passport. Somewhere along the way, he couldn’t find his way back home.

He had no phone with him. No way to call his family. No way to tell anyone where he was.

According to AsiaOne, he had been lost in Jurong East for hours.

Directions Weren’t Enough

Naira did what most of us would do first. She explained the directions to him.

But as he listened, she could tell he wasn’t sure. He seemed uncertain about the way she had described.

She had planned to cycle home. It was already dark. It would have been easy to wish him luck.

Instead, she decided to walk him home herself.

ITE later explained what was going through her mind in a Facebook post.

“She felt bad leaving him alone and thought about how she would feel if her own parents or grandparents were in the same situation,” the post said.

She checked the address on his NRIC, Singapore’s identity card, to make sure they were heading to the right place.

And then the two of them set off together.

Thirty Minutes, Side by Side

The walk took about 30 minutes.

Thirty minutes is a long time to walk beside a stranger at night. But it gave them time to talk.

Along the way, he told her why he had been in the area. The passport. And that he didn’t have a phone to reach his family.

At home, his family had no idea where he was.

They had been searching for him the whole afternoon.

The Door Finally Opened

When Naira and the man finally reached his home, his son-in-law was there, according to Stomp.

He told her the family had spent the afternoon looking for him.

Naira didn’t just drop him off and leave. She stayed until the rest of his family came home.

She waited to see him back with the people who love him. And she was relieved when she did.

The man also told her something that night that stayed with her.

“The elderly man told me he was proud of my parents for raising me to be helpful, and he was grateful I was there to help him,” Naira said.

“I felt really appreciated and touched by his words.”

A Thank-You From the Family

The family didn’t forget her either.

They wrote to ITE to commend her for the care she showed a man she had never met before.

On Thursday, October 22, ITE shared her story on its Facebook page.

People loved it. By the time Stomp reported on it, the post had more than 7,200 likes, 260 shares and 315 comments.

“Kudos to this little girl. Her empathy and grit will take her far,” one commenter wrote.

“What a beautiful, kind and thoughtful gesture. Proud of you young lady,” wrote another.

Another person added a line that sums up how many people felt.

“These are the youths we should recognise and commend! Thank you for bringing humanity back to where it should be Naira!”

Then a woman who said she was the man’s niece joined the comments.

“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you so much, Naira. ❤️ Our family was desperately searching for my uncle and was so worried about his safety.”

“We are truly grateful that you were there to help him get home safely. Your kindness and compassion mean more to us than words can express.”

“May you and your family always be blessed with happiness and kindness.”

A Gentle Word About Safety

Not every comment was only praise. Some people also cared about Naira’s safety.

“Keep up! You were a brave girl who took extra steps to send the uncle back to where he was residing,” one Facebook user wrote, while urging her to stay mindful of her own safety.

“Your family raised a fine lady with a good and compassionate heart. It will be good to also alert the police so that they can also help,” another said.

It’s a fair point. If you ever find someone who is lost and confused, calling the police or another trusted helper is always a good idea too.

Why This Story Hits Home

Nothing about that night was dramatic. No rescue crews. No cameras.

Just a lost man, a dark evening, and a student who could have ridden away.

She thought about her own parents. Her own grandparents. And she couldn’t leave him alone.

Somewhere in Singapore, a family spent an afternoon terrified. That night, their uncle walked through the door.

All because one young woman decided that thirty minutes of her evening mattered less than his.

Have you ever helped a lost stranger, or been helped by one? Tell us in the comments.