In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

Back when I was 19 years old, my daily commute was on an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be standing room only when I got on.

One particular morning, I was feeling incredibly sick when the coach rocked around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to endure another few kilometres so the bus could reached my stop, and then I could make a mad dash to the closest washroom to throw up.

As we neared the road leading to the destination as it dawned on me I was unable to hold on. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone cut the sound. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I took a couple of steps forward and told the operator to stop, telling him I was going to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I stumbled out out onto the street.

I was resolved to avoid being sick before six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to make my way across to the park opposite the street, where I believed it would allow me to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to be sick. However I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my limbs, but I couldn’t walk or see properly, so I started inching my way to the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I needed to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk over to an adjacent building and put me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I declined.

After a short while, I felt better to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the stall I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to stand up at that moment but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I made my way home passing several days healing from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – merely his legs and the big steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that hardening of the heart. He was proof that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.