Feeling So Sick I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.

During my nineteenth year, my daily commute was on an express bus. It remained jammed and invariably became completely full once I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I began feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle lurched around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus got to where I needed to get off, so I could then make a mad dash to the closest public restroom to vomit.

We were coming down the avenue close to the destination as it dawned on me I was unable to last. Suddenly, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. The world became blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I managed several steps forward and asked the driver to open the doors, informing him I needed to vomit. The driver opened the entrance and I weakly exited out onto the street.

I was determined to avoid being sick before six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and started trying to walk toward the green space opposite the street, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to vomit. Yet I must have lost consciousness. I sensed my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I was lifted up. I felt an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I refused.

Not long after, I felt better sufficiently to sit down when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to rise just then but I did succeed to say thank you and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my limbs. I got myself home and spent several days recovering from which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see that man’s face – only his legs and a large metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, something I love about humanity.