Ibrahim Halil Dudu, an Aleppo refugee and master tailor, helped save a Canadian bride’s wedding day after the zipper on her wedding dress broke.
The interaction, which has gone viral on social media, came about three years after Dudu lost everything when his home in Aleppo, Syria, and his tailoring business were blown up by a bomb, The Washington Post reported.
He and his family arrived in Guelph, Ontario on Sunday after David Hobson and his wife, Shari Wiseman, agreed to host the family of Syrian refugees.
Hobson was playing basketball with his kids in their driveway when he was approached by a bridesmaid who was in need of help in fixing the zipper on Jo Du's wedding dress, the Post noted. She had been trying to fix the zipper herself, but wasn’t able to.
Hobson grabbed Dudu, saying “Emergency, come help!” the Post reported.
They then took a sewing kit to the nearby house where the wedding party was getting ready for the ceremony.
“After a few minutes of further attempts there was a knock on the door and the neighbor along with the tailor and his son arrived to help, sewing kit in tow,” wedding photographer Lindsay Coulter said, according to Metro.
Within minutes, Dudu had fixed the dress.
“I went out to take some photos of the groomsmen and came back to find the tailor putting the finishing stitches on her dress,” Coulter said.
The next day, Coulter recounted in a Facebook post what she referred to as an “incredible act of kindness.”
“Every weekend, I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives,” she wrote, “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.”
Dudu found himself all over local, national and foreign headlines after Coulter’s post went viral.
Dudu spoke with the Post with the help of an interpreter, telling them that he did not expect to make international news by simply helping a bride with something as trivial as a zipper.
“It’s been hard for us to do this as a hosting family, but it’s been one of the best experiences of my life,” Hobson told the Post. “It really makes a difference at the personal level. You see it in the kids’ smile. You see it in the appreciation of the people.”