In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.

Back when I was my late teens, my morning travel involved an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and was consistently completely full once I stepped aboard.

During a certain commute, I was feeling quite nauseous as the bus rocked around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to endure just a little longer so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to be sick.

The bus was approaching the road leading to the destination as I realised I was unable to hold on. Suddenly, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; like someone had muted everything. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, so I took a couple of steps toward the driver and asked the driver to pull over, telling him I needed to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

I was determined to not get sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and started trying to make my way across to the park on the other side, where I thought I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to vomit. Yet I likely lost consciousness. I was aware of my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this unknown man that I needed to vomit. So he virtually carried me down into a nearby building and placed me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know whether I required him to wait for me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I regained my composure enough to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the door I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I did succeed to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my legs. I returned home and spent the next few days getting over what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – only his legs and a large container for tools he held – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.