Woman hasn’t spent Christmas with father in 53 years, trip almost gets derailed again

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — A not so sweet Christmas surprise for some unlucky travelers. It had been 53 years since a woman had spent Christmas with her father.

Her trip almost derailed for another year even after their flight landed in Wilmington.

‘Well we’re screwed. We might as well go home,” said Michelle Chadwick, who was spending Christmas with her veteran father for the first time since she was three years old.

A wrench in the plans almost meant they’d go another year without sharing the holiday. It all started when she went to get her rental car.

“We made it up to the counter, and it was dark. There was no one there. And so we thought, ‘Well, maybe they’ve stepped away.’ So we waited. They called around. Nobody. I’m in Wilmington. He’s here in Surf City. He’s right there. And I was in tears,” said Chadwick.

Chadwick and her boyfriend came from Arkansas. They had booked a car from Budget Rent A Car well in advance.

When they landed at ILM, there was nobody at the Budget counter and no car waiting.

“The officer told us, he said, ‘This is a systemic problem with these rental car places here at the airport because they always leave before the last plane lands.’ He said, ‘You’re not the first people to complain about this,'” said Chadwick.

Chadwick and her boyfriend had to spend Christmas Eve at a motel. On Christmas morning, Budget finally found them a car.

Chadwick says the company has agreed to reimburse what they paid for the rental car, the motel and the cab to get there.

“If they had not gotten the car to us on Christmas morning, there would be no consoling me. But the fact that they got the car to us on Christmas morning and we managed to get here, that alone took a lot of stress off of me,” said Chadwick.

Chadwick says ultimately what mattered, was spending the holiday with her father, no matter how long the journey took.

An airport spokeswoman referred us to Budget for comment. WWAY reached out to the company, but it has not responded yet.