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Powerful photo captures woman's touching gesture to aggressive man on train

Ehab Taha can't stop thinking about the beautiful display of humanity he witnessed between two strangers on Jan. 28.
/ Source: TODAY

Ehab Taha can't stop thinking about the beautiful display of humanity he recently witnessed between two strangers.

While riding the SkyTrain from Vancouver, B.C., where he was visiting a friend, to his home in Surrey on Jan. 28, he observed an elderly woman lend a hand to a man behaving erratically.

The man was cursing and shouting, which made many passengers feel uncomfortable and led them to believe he was coping with drug abuse or mental health issues.

"I have to admit that I debated switching seats because he was only a couple feet away from me and I was starting to get annoyed," Taha, 25, told TODAY.com.

While most shied away, a group of teenagers laughed at the man, which prompted the woman to speak up and tell them to stop before she reached out her hand in hopes of calming him down.

The 70-year-old woman got through to him just through a tight hand grip. He sat down on the floor next to her with tears in his eyes as they spent 20 minutes holding hands in silence.

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When they arrived at his stop, he let go of her hand and said "Thanks, grandma" before getting off the train.

Taha took the opportunity to thank the woman for what she did and said "God bless you; the world needs more people like you," which made her quite emotional.

When he asked her why she did it, she responded, "He seemed like he needed someone to hold and I didn't want him to feel so alone." She also added that she's a mother with two sons around his age and hopes that someone would do the same for them.

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"I was hesitant to take their photo at first because I wanted to respect their privacy, but I decided to go through with it because I want to remember the moment for my memory," Taha said.

He uploaded it to Facebook on Feb. 2 to share with his friends and within hours it went viral, now with over 31,000 shares.

"It's incredible to see the impact a simple human touch can have on someone," Taha said. "Instead of fearing people, we should reach out and help them."