In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of my late teens, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and would always be completely full when I boarded.

One particular morning, I started experiencing terribly ill as the bus rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest washroom to vomit.

We were coming down the road leading to my stop and I realised I was unable to hold on. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. Everything just went white and really quiet; like someone had cut the sound. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood close to the driver of the bus, allowing me to take a few steps forward and asked the driver to stop, explaining to him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the entrance and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

My intention was not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and endeavored to stumble to the park on the other side, thinking I could I’d at least be able to find some privacy near some foliage to vomit. But then I likely lost consciousness. I could feel my physical self, yet walking was impossible or see properly, so I started inching my way to my intended destination.

“Everything alright, love?”

At that moment, I was lifted up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I needed to be sick. Therefore, he almost carried me down into a nearby building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired whether I required him to remain with me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I regained my composure enough to sit down and from outside the door came his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise right away but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my legs. I returned home and then spent the next few days recovering from which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see that man’s face – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that our default setting leans toward compassion, something I love about my fellow humans.