I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

During my my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an express bus. It remained jammed and was consistently completely full once I boarded.

During a certain commute, I was feeling terribly ill when the coach lurched around each corner. I kept telling myself to hold on for a few more stops so the bus could arrived at my stop, so I could then sprint quickly toward the most convenient public restroom to vomit.

We were coming down the avenue close to the destination as I realised I was unable to make it. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; like someone had muted everything. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was close to the driver on the bus, allowing me to take a few steps forward and told the operator to stop, informing him I needed to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

My intention was to not get sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and began attempting to make my way to the park across the road, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. But then I apparently blacked out. I sensed my limbs, but walking was impossible or see properly, so I started crawling towards the park.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I was lifted up. I sensed someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I needed to vomit. Thus, he practically supported my weight over to a nearby building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired whether I required him to remain with me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from outside the door I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to stand up at that moment but did manage to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home and spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I never saw the stranger’s face – only his legs along with a sizable metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He demonstrated that our default setting is towards kindness, something I love in other people.