Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.

During my my late teens, my regular journey to work meant taking an express bus. It remained crowded and would always be standing room only when I stepped aboard.

During a certain commute, I was feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle swayed around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to hold on just a little longer before the bus reached my destination, so I could then rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public toilet to vomit.

The bus was approaching the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I was unable to last. In an instant, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. The world became white and really quiet; similar to when one muted everything. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was close to the driver of the bus, allowing me to take a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, telling him that I was about to get ill. He opened the entrance and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.

My intention was to avoid being sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk across to the park across the road, where I believed I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to vomit. However I apparently lost consciousness. I could feel my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I sensed someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost supported my weight over to an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to stay with me but I refused.

A few minutes later, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up right away but I was able to say thank you and after a few more minutes regained the function of my feet. I made my way home and spent the next few days recovering from which was a severe stomach virus.

I never saw that man’s face – merely his legs and the big steelwork tools container he had with him – but he helped me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society has a way of making you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, a trait I cherish about humanity.