How an act of kindness at a Cape Breton beach brought two strangers together

This documentary first aired in May 2018.

For Duncan and Cathy Gillis, it was just a typical day at the beach. They had no idea they were internet stars in the making.

On August 28, 2017, the husband and wife from Port Hawkesbury, Cape Breton, were heading to their car after an afternoon at Government Wharf Beach.

They were unaware that only a few feet away, a woman was so moved by what she saw that she picked up her cellphone and started recording. 

The video, which was later posted to Facebook, but is now unavailable, captured Duncan patiently helping Cathy, who was wearing a wide-brimmed sun hat and clutching an oxygen tank.

While Cathy sat in a folding beach chair, Duncan carried a second chair about 10 steps ahead and set it down in the sand. Then, he walked back, took his wife's arm and led her slowly to the waiting chair.

Duncan went back to get the other chair, which he then placed a little further down the beach. He repeated this patient leapfrog until Cathy got to where she wanted to go.

"When she got sick, it was just the right thing to do," says Duncan.

Cathy had a form of lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. But even as it became increasingly difficult for her to get around, she and Duncan kept going to the beach. 

The summer of 2017 was Cathy's last.

She died at home in March 2018.

The roughly four-minute video would become one of the only mementos Duncan has of Cathy at the beach, one of her favourite places.

"She loved the calmness," says Duncan. "And she loved putting her feet in the water."

The video led to an unexpected friendship with the woman who recorded it, who has her own special connection to that beach.

Beulah Chandler uploaded the video to Facebook, and before long, it had more than 37,000 views.

She didn't know the couple, but in the video you can hear her whispering to her daughter to pay attention. "He's taking care of the love of his life," she says.

"Here he was slowing down and showing her kindness, like he didn't have a care in the world, like that was what he was created for, just to help her along," says Beulah, who lives in Port Hood, about a 40-minute drive from Duncan.

Beulah goes to that beach almost every day of the summer, but that day in August was special.

She was there to remember her son Joel on what would have been his 25th birthday.  

He died four years earlier when, on the way home from an evening at the beach, the small car he was in with six of his friends veered off the road and flipped over. 

Beulah remembers the sound of sirens waking her that night.

She only got to see her son alive one more time, for a brief moment. 

"I remember pressing my face up against the window of the ambulance and we prayed, we prayed for Joel to have one more chance," says Beulah through tears. 

Joel died before reaching the hospital.

For Beulah, the beach is a place of comfort now that Joel is gone.

It's where he learned to swim in deep water, and it's where he'd impress his friends with his adventurous antics like driving dirt bikes into the water or doing back flips. It's where he spent the last day of his life.

"The beaches and the wharf are pretty special," says Beulah. 

When Beulah saw Duncan helping Cathy, she says she was reminded of the tiny moments we often miss. 

"Watching that was beautiful for us, and it turned out to be a blessing to him," Beulah says.

Beulah never thought Duncan would see the video. 

But he did.

Duncan says some people ask if he's upset about what some might consider an invasion of privacy. But he says he doesn't mind.  

"I was surprised that I was videoed, but I'm not upset," says Duncan, "because there's a lot worse things people could be watching on that internet than me helping my wife!"

On March 26, 2018, just over two weeks after Cathy's death, the two Cape Bretoners met for the first time at Duncan's home.

Beulah brought homemade biscuits and Duncan laid out an impressive lunch spread. They spent a couple of hours sharing memories, and vowed to meet again. 

Duncan says he's thankful to have the video of Cathy to return to, now that she's gone.

"I think it's going to remind me of all the good times Cathy and I had together," he says.  "I'll go back to that more than once in the next few years."

About the producer

Emma Smith has been with CBC Nova Scotia since 2017. She's a graduate of UBC's Graduate School of Journalism and the former editor of a community newspaper on Nova Scotia's South Shore. You can follow her work at @emma_dsmith.

This documentary was co-produced and edited by Acey Rowe.