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A woman branded a 'smelly fatty' by a cruel bully on a plane has said her faith in humanity has been restored after a fellow passenger stood up to his vulgar behaviour.

Savannah Phillips was left in floods of tears after the man, in his 60s, made the jibe in a text message - which he sent with his phone 12 inches from her face.

It turned out she was not the only person who could see what he was writing, as another man, bar manager Chase Irwin, intervened.

In an impassioned Facebook post, Savannah wrote: "I don’t even know what the rest of his text said. I turned my head away as fast as I could.

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

"I was shocked and it was like confirmation of the negative things I think about myself on a daily basis. Before I knew it, I could feel hot, salty tears coming down my face."

But as she sat on the runway crying, things suddenly took a turn for the better.

Savannah wrote: "All of a sudden, someone from behind us taps on the guy’s shoulder and says, “Hey- I need to talk to you.”

"The guy next to me takes out his headphones. Someone behind us says, “We are switching seats. Now.”

"The guy next to me said, “OK- why?” And I hear someone say (removing curse words), “You are texting about her, and I’m not putting up with that.”"

(Image: Facebook)

(Image: Facebook)

The man sat next to her and saw her tears.

"He encouraged me not to let that guy get to me and that everything was going to be fine."

The Good Samaritan said he was so mad after seeing the messages that he was "shaking".

Savannah's post continued: "I told him thank you for what he did and that it meant the world to me- and that he would be my husband’s new favorite person.

"The flight attendant kept trying to give him free drinks and told him that he was her hero."

(Image: Facebook) (Image: Facebook)

On the flight, Mr Irwin had seen the man's appalling behaviour and posted on Snapchat: "This guy, prob mid 50s just text his wife that he is sitting next to a smelly fatty and was about to vomit.

"I watched her read his text and is now looking sad.

"Should I New Mexico slap the **** out of him or just say something when landing?"