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Syrian refugee helps save bride’s wedding

A newly-arrived Syrian refugee in Canada became a wedding day hero as he helped save a bride’s wedding! The happiest day of this bride’s life started out with a bit of trouble, as her zipper broke. However, a Syrian refugee tailor, who was living next door, valiantly saved the day. What a beautiful story of doing good!

Syrian refugee helps save bride's wedding on The Good Beginning

According to CNN, “It only took one little zipper to almost derail a bride’s wedding day, and it only took the help of a remarkable stranger to make it right again.”

“While Jo Du was getting ready for her wedding ceremony last weekend in Ontario, Canada, a tooth on the zipper of her dress snapped. Sure, a lot can go wrong on such a big day, but not being able to actually close a wedding dress seems like a particularly bad bit of luck.”

“Members of the wedding party raced to a neighbor’s house to see if they could locate a pair of pliers and MacGyver the dress back on. To their surprise, they found the neighbor, David Hobson, had recently taken in a family of Syrian refugees — and the father of the family, Ibrahim Halil Dudu, was a tailor.”
“With some translation help, Halil Dudu stitched up the back of Du’s dress in front of an amazed wedding party.”
Syrian refugee helps save bride's wedding on The Good Beginning

The couple’s photographer, Lindsay Coulter, first shared this story, via a touching post on Facebook. “Yesterday Jo & Earl were married but before their beautiful wedding another incredible situation occurred. Jo’s bridesmaids were helping her in to her gown when the zipper broke. The girls were all surprisingly calm but weren’t having much luck fixing the zipper. The neighbour living next door to the house they had rented for the wedding had his garage door open when I pulled up so I suggested they run over and ask if he had pliers. One of the bridesmaids quickly went over and spoke with their neighbour.

She came back with a handful of tools and some interesting information: the next door neighbour was hosting a family of Syrian refugees and the father was a master tailor and would be happy to help if we weren’t successful. After a few minutes of further attempts there was a knock on the door and the neighbour along with the tailor & his son arrived to help, sewing kit in tow.
I went out to take some photos of the groomsmen and came back to find the tailor putting the finishing stitches on her dress. The neighbour David told me they had just moved to Canada four days ago. They didn’t speak a word of english, and had been communicating by using Google Translate. The young boy looked at his Dad, the girls around him, at my camera and back to his Dad about a hundred times. He was curious and in seemingly good spirits. I couldn’t help but stand back in awe of the situation.

Every weekend I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives, and today one man who has seen some of the worst things our world has to offer came to the rescue.

I am so proud to live in Canada, a country who has opened our doors to refugees countless times. I’m in awe of the families who have welcomed these strangers in to their homes and lives, and I’m inspired by the resilience of the Syrian people. We are truly blessed.”

If you’re interested in helping to support the Syrian refugee crisis there are many great charities you can support through a registry with The Good Beginning, such as International Rescue Committee. The mission of the IRC is to, “respond to the world’s worst humanitarian crises and helps people to survive and rebuild their lives.” We love seeing people use their wedding days to do good and this Syrian tailor is an amazing example to us all!

Story Sources: CNN & Lindsay Coulter
Image Credit: Lindsay Coulter via The Guardian
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