In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was my late teens, my morning travel involved an express bus. It remained jammed and would always be standing room only by the time I boarded.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing quite nauseous when the coach rocked around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to endure for a few more stops before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then rush hurriedly for the nearest public restroom to throw up.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and I understood I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it was like a curtain fell over me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; as if someone muted everything. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Luckily I was near the front on the bus, so I managed a few steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I needed to get ill. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.

My intention was to not get sick in view of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to stumble toward the green space on the other side, where I believed I’d at least be able to discreetly hide among some shrubs to vomit. Yet I likely blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see properly, leading me to start dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I required to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically carried me over to a nearby building and guided me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I declined.

Not long after, I felt better enough to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I could not to stand up right away but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period recovered the use of my legs. I made my way home and spent the next few days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see the stranger’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable steelwork tools container he had with him – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting is to be kind, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.