Mother tracks down stranger who gave her a letter on the train praising her parenting skills

Sammie Welch, a young single mother, decided to track down the stranger who gave her a letter praising her parenting skills, and as unlikely as it seemed, she found him.

The 23-year old mother wanted to share the note with people so she could properly thank the stranger for his encouragement and generosity.

Recalling the moment, Sammie and her three-year old son Rylan boarded a train on Thursday night. Sammie fed her son and played with him to keep him occupied for the long journey back home. The stranger handed her a piece of paper and at the time just thanked him and took the paper, according to the Mirror.

The stranger gave her £5 along with a note praising her parenting skills. By the time Welch was able to read the note while her son was sleeping on her lap, the stranger already left the train.

The note read: "Have a drink on me, you're a credit to your generation, polite and teaching the little boy good manners.

"PS I have a daughter your age, someone did the same for her once.

"Hope when she has children she is as good a mother as you."

The piece of paper was signed "man on train at table with glasses and hat".

Welch was deeply moved by the gesture and launched a Facebook campaign to find the kind stranger so she could thank him in person.

She even appeared on ITV's Loose Women telling the panel how much she wanted to thank him.

"I want him to know how much he affected me," she said.

After the story went viral, Ken Saunders finally came forward and responded to Welch's request.

Welch and Saunders were reunited through ITV's Good Morning Britain. Saunders told the show that Sammie and Rylan were an endearing sight after a long week's work.

He said: "He was a bubbly little boy, and he coughed and she said 'Oh Rylan, put your hand to your mouth', and he practised it quite a bit after that - he coughed a few times and put his hand in front of his mouth."

"Then he said 'What', and she said: 'No, pardon' - it was quite funny."

In an earlier interview with Mail Online, Saunders told the press that he gave the note because he thought Welch is "a great role model" and that Rylan reminds him of his 20-year old daughter when she was younger.

"He was boisterous, playful - it reminded me of my daughter back in the day," he said.

"It made such a change compared to the maligned young people of today. It was really touching to see her teaching him correct manners. That really touched me. I thought she's lightened up my night, I'm going to lighten up her night. So I gave her a fiver."

"There's loads of nice people out there and I think people should be reminded of that."