I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

During my my late teens, my morning travel meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and would always be without any seats when I got on.

During a certain commute, I was feeling quite nauseous as the bus swayed around the bends. I kept telling myself to hold on another few kilometres so the bus could reached my destination, at which point I could make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and I understood I would not be to make it. All of a sudden, it seemed a curtain fell over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front on the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to pull over, informing him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.

I was resolved to avoid being sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and endeavored to stumble across to the park across the road, where I thought I’d at least be able to discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. But then I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my body but I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I began crawling towards the park.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. I sensed an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I required to be sick. Thus, he practically helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I refused.

Not long after, I regained my composure enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the stall I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up at that moment but I did succeed to express my gratitude and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my limbs. I made my way home and then spent the following days healing from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Frequently, society can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination is towards kindness, a trait I cherish about humanity.