In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.

At the age of my late teens, my regular journey to work was on an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and was consistently standing room only by the time I boarded.

On one specific day, I started experiencing quite nauseous while the vehicle rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to be sick.

The bus was approaching the road leading to my stop and it dawned on me I would not be to hold on. In an instant, it seemed a veil came over me. The world became hazy and muffled; similar to when one turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps toward the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to get ill. He opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was determined to not get sick in front of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and endeavored to stumble to the park on the other side, where I believed I could at least discreetly hide behind a bush to throw up. However I apparently fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, someone picked me up. There was a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost supported my weight into an adjacent building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to remain with me but I said no.

After a short while, I felt better to the point of sitting down and from the other side of the door I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I wasn’t able to stand up right away but I did succeed to express my gratitude and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my legs. I made my way home and then spent several days getting over what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – just his lower half and a large metal toolbox he had with him – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that reverses that emotional callousness. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, something I love about my fellow humans.