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

At the age of my late teens, my daily commute involved an packed public transport. The vehicle was always jammed and invariably became standing room only by the time I got on.

On one specific day, I started experiencing quite nauseous as the bus lurched around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus reached my stop, so I could then rush hurriedly for the nearest public toilet to throw up.

We were coming down the road leading to the destination as I understood I was unable to last. Suddenly, it seemed a curtain fell over me. Everything just went blank and silent; as if someone cut the sound. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was close to the driver on the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and told the operator to stop, informing him that I was about to be sick. He opened the entrance and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and endeavored to walk to the park across the road, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. However I likely lost consciousness. I was aware of my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually helped me walk over to a close-by structure and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I wanted him to stay with me but I refused.

A few minutes later, I had recovered sufficiently to sit down and from outside the door I heard him ask, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to stand up right away but I was able to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home passing the following days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see the stranger’s face – only his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he saved me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.

Many times, life can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that protective shell. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.