Stranger's Unexpected Note Helps College Student Through Mental Health Struggle

After having difficulty booking an appointment with the counseling service at her university in Manchester England, Charlotte Rose Ford was distraught.

On Nov. 17, Ford wrote on Facebook that she’s lived with anxiety and low mood, and because of these mental health issues, she’s had to ask for doctor’s notes when she can’t complete course work on time. Ford was at a campus cafe when she called her school counselor’s office asking for a letter for a mitigating circumstances form. They informed her that she needed to pay £20 (about $30) for the note, even though she’d already seen a doctor.

Ford said money is tight for her, and she broke down. But a stranger’s random act of kindness changed all of that in a matter of seconds.

“I sat there messaging one of my friends to see if maybe anyone could come and chat with me for a bit,” Ford wrote on Facebook. “Someone came up to me, put a cup of coffee in front of me and said, ‘This is for you, someone sent it over.’ And I found this note tucked inside the cup sleeve!”

The note reads: “I hope you don’t mind that I overheard. Just wanted to say, don’t worry! I’ve been there. I thought I wouldn’t get through my undergrad & now I’m doing a PhD! This is for the doctor’s note. You’ll get through it! X.”

The note was accompanied by two £10 bills, enough to cover the counseling session necessary for Ford to get her medical letter.

  Ford said she immediately burst into tears and that she was overwhelmed by the stranger's kindness and generosity. She went public with her story to thank the individual who helped her out, but she also wanted to share the note for two reasons. She wrote:

1)  You're really not on your own no matter how much you might think so, because there's always someone who's been there 2) The world actually is such a lovely place sometimes and that there are people full of kindness!

h/t Metro