One tiny, compassionate gesture can go so far.

Ehab Taha, 26, was riding the SkyTrain in Metro Vancouver last week when a man — who Taha believed may have been suffering from a mental illness — started swearing and acting "really aggressively" inside the car.

"Everyone was pretty scared at first," Taha, who lives in Surrey, B.C., told The Huffington Post B.C. on Thursday.

But one 70-year-old woman knew just what to do — she reached out and held his hand.

"He calmed down slowly, sat down, and had tears in his eyes," Taha recalled.

"It was quite incredible how much he calmed down in a split moment ... It was the most touching thing I've ever seen."