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

Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute involved an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be without any seats by the time I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I began feeling quite nauseous when the coach rocked around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, so I could then sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to vomit.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to the stop when I realised I was unable to last. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. My vision turned blank and silent; like someone had muted everything. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Luckily I was close to the driver on the bus, so I took a few steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, informing him I was going to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.

I was determined not to vomit in front of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and began attempting to make my way toward the green space across the road, where I thought it would allow me to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to be sick. Yet I likely lost consciousness. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I began inching my way to the park.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost helped me walk into a nearby building and put me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to wait for me but I declined.

After a short while, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but did manage to say thank you and shortly thereafter regained the function of my legs. I got myself home and then spent the following days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see the stranger’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable metal toolbox he held – but he helped me, when I was completely helpless.

Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that protective shell. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, something I love about my fellow humans.