I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.

At the age of my late teens, my daily commute involved an packed public transport. The vehicle was always full and invariably became completely full once I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I was feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle swayed around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure for a few more stops before the bus got to where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient washroom to be sick.

As we neared the avenue close to the stop when I understood I was unable to make it. All of a sudden, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned blank and silent; similar to when one turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.

Luckily I was near the front on the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, telling him I was going to be sick. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.

I was resolved not to vomit before a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and started trying to make my way toward the green space on the other side, where I believed I could at least find some privacy among some shrubs to throw up. Yet I must have fainted. I was aware of my body but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, leading me to start crawling towards the park.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I sensed someone holding me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I explained to this unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost helped me walk over to a close-by structure and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.

Not long after, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from outside the door came his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up at that moment but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period recovered the use of my feet. I returned home passing the following days healing from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see the stranger’s face – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he held – but he helped me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish in other people.