My father died when I was 19, after a short and sharp fight with cancer. Unsure of what to do or how to proceed with life, I took a year off university and went backpacking through Europe. The other side of the world seemed like a good place to be.

I ended up at the music festival Glastonbury in 2011. It was a great lineup that year but there was one act on the bill that really caught my eye: U2. They were my dad’s favourite band, so it seemed only right that I should go and see them. Of course, U2 aren’t exactly a massive draw for people my age, so I ended up alone in the massive crowd at the main stage while my friends saw other bands.

It turns out that even if you go as far as the other side of the world, you can’t run away from your grief. The sun had just set and, as the music started playing, a wave of emotion hit me. U2 have a song called One, which features the line “One life with each other/ sisters, brothers”. When my dad was quite sick, my sister would play that song on repeat in his hospital room. As soon as U2 started playing that song, I just started crying.

As I sobbed silently to myself, a beautiful stranger next to me, dressed in a pink tutu, asked me if I was OK. I told her about my dad and she just drew me in, holding me tight and not letting go. Every time I would cry, she would hug me tighter, as we swayed to the music. This went on for over an hour. At the end of the set she gave me a very sisterly kiss on the forehead and wandered off into the distance.

When you lose a parent at 19, it puts you far ahead of your peers, and not in a good way. A lot of people mean well but they don’t know how to help you. But this woman’s pure empathy was cathartic; it was incredible. It was one of those moments where you don’t realise how much you need comfort until you receive it.

I’ll never know her name and probably couldn’t pick her out of a lineup, but she gave me the first moment I’d felt at peace in a year. I hope everything in life has gone as well for her as she deserves, because people like that deserve nothing but the best.

What is the nicest thing a stranger has ever done for you?