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Syrian Refugee Tailor Rescues Wedding

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Photo: Lindsay Coulter Photography

A wedding in Canada became more than just a celebration of a bride and groom coming together — quite accidentally, it turned into a celebration of global unity as well. Bride Jo Du was getting ready for her big day in Guelph, Ontario, when the zipper of her gown broke. When no one in the wedding party could fix it, she was rescued by a Syrian refugee who had just moved in next door.

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Photo: Lindsay Coulter Photography

“The girls were all surprisingly calm but weren’t having much luck fixing the zipper,” photographer Lindsay Coulter wrote about the day on Facebook. “The neighbor 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.”

David Hobson was happy to lend them the tools but also offered something much better: Just four days earlier, Ibrahim Halil Dudu, along with his wife and three children, had moved into Hobson’s home from Turkey. He happened to be a tailor with 28 years of experience. Dudu didn’t speak English, but with the help of Google Translate, he was able to get right to work. He sewed Du into her dress as everyone looked on.

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Photo: Lindsay Coulter Photography

“I was so excited and so happy [to] help Canadian people like other people helped [me],” Dudu told CTV News.

According to CTV, Du and her new husband, Earl Lee, went back to Hobson’s house the next day to thank Dudu one more time. As immigrants themselves, they appreciated that Canada had welcomed this man and his family.

“Everyone’s really realizing the world’s a small place, and you can really make a big difference by doing small things for individuals that are close to you,” Hobson told CTV.

The significance of this gesture wasn’t lost on Coulter, whose Facebook post has been shared more than 4,000 times and liked 10,000 times as of this writing.

“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,” she wrote. “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.”

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Photo: Lindsay Coulter Photography

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