I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. The vehicle was always crowded and invariably became completely full by the time I got on.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing terribly ill as the bus rocked around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to hold on just a little longer until the bus reached my destination, and then I could make a mad dash toward the most convenient public restroom to be sick.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to my stop and I realised I was unable to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. The world became hazy and muffled; as if someone cut the sound. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed several steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, explaining to him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the entrance and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to throw up. However I must have blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I started crawling towards the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me down into an adjacent building and put me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to remain with me but I said no.

Not long after, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the door I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to rise just then but did manage to say thank you and shortly thereafter regained the function of my feet. I made my way home passing several days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed his features – merely his legs and a large container for tools he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, something I love about humanity.