I'm sure the parents wanted to share in the caregiving duties. Caring for an able-bodied child is tiring enough when you're traveling, let alone caring for a severely handicapped one...And you don't know what kind of caregiving she needed. Would probably be tough to do from behind her. Sounds like a great dad to me.

I asked someone recently to change seats with me so I could sit next to my husband on a DCA-PHX trip. Wasn't for lack of planning ahead...hubby happened to nail gun his finger a few days before my trip, so he was off from work and able to come with me. The only F seat available was not next to me. Luckily, someone was kind enough to switch. We don't get to go anywhere without the kids too often, so we wanted to sit together. You can't assume people didn't plan ahead. Things happen.