I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

During my nineteenth year, my regular journey to work meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually jammed and invariably became standing room only once I boarded.

On one specific day, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to persevere for a few more stops until the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest public toilet to vomit.

The bus was approaching the road leading to the stop when it dawned on me I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it was like a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; similar to when one turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was toward the front of the bus, so I took several steps toward the driver and told the operator to open the doors, informing him that I was about to be sick. He promptly opened the entrance and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

I was resolved to not get sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and started trying to stumble to the park across the road, where I believed I could at least find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. However I likely lost consciousness. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started inching my way to the park.

“Everything alright, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. There was an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I had to to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to wait for me but I refused.

After a short while, I had recovered 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 wasn’t able to stand up at that moment but did manage to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my feet. I got myself home and spent the next few days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable container for tools he held – but he helped me, when I was in my weakest state.

Often this world can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that emotional callousness. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency is to be kind, a trait I cherish about humanity.