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

During my nineteenth year, my daily commute meant taking an crowded coach. The vehicle was always jammed and would always be without any seats by the time I got on.

One particular morning, I started experiencing incredibly sick as the bus swayed around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then sprint quickly to the closest public restroom to vomit.

We were coming down the road leading to my stop and it dawned on me I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. The world became blank and silent; as if someone muted everything. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front on the bus, so I took a few steps forward and asked the driver to pull over, explaining to him I was going to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.

I was resolved not to vomit in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and endeavored to make my way toward the green space on the other side, where I believed I could at least discreetly hide behind a bush to be sick. Yet I likely blacked out. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk or see properly, so I began dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I required to be sick. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me whether I required him to stay with me but I declined.

Not long after, I had recovered sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to get up just then but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes regained the function of my legs. I made my way home and spent several days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.

I did not see his features – merely his legs and the big steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.

Many times, life has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish in other people.