In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.

Back when I was nineteenth year, my morning travel was on an crowded coach. The vehicle was always jammed and invariably became completely full once I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I started experiencing incredibly sick as the bus swayed around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to endure for a few more stops before the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, at which point I could rush hurriedly toward the most convenient washroom to throw up.

We were coming down the road leading to the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. The world became hazy and muffled; like someone had turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front on the bus, so I managed several steps toward the driver and asked the driver to pull over, telling him I was going to vomit. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

I was resolved to avoid being sick in front of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to make my way toward the green space across the road, where I thought I’d at least be able to find some privacy among some shrubs to be sick. Yet I apparently lost consciousness. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“Everything alright, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I required to be sick. Thus, he practically helped me walk over to an adjacent building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to stay with me but I refused.

A few minutes later, I felt better enough to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the door I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to stand up just then but did manage to say thank you and shortly thereafter regained the function of my feet. I got myself home and then spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half and a large container for tools he was carrying – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was completely helpless.

Many times, life can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that hardening of the heart. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.