I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.
During my 19 years old, my regular journey to work meant taking an packed public transport. The vehicle was always full and was consistently completely full when I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I began feeling incredibly sick as the bus swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to persevere another few kilometres until the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could make a mad dash to the closest public restroom to throw up.
As we neared the road leading to the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it was like a fog descended upon me. My vision turned blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.
Luckily I was near the front on the bus, so I managed a few steps forward and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him that I was about to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved not to vomit before multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and endeavored to make my way toward the green space across the road, thinking I could I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to be sick. Yet I apparently lost consciousness. I sensed my body but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.
“Are you okay, dear?”
In that instant, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically supported my weight down into a close-by structure and placed me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know whether I required him to remain with me but I declined.
After a short while, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to rise right away but did manage to express my gratitude and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my limbs. I got myself home and spent several days recovering from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.
I never saw that man’s face – merely his legs and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, during a time when I was completely helpless.
Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.
