In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

During my nineteenth year, my regular journey to work involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually crowded and would always be completely full when I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I was feeling incredibly sick when the coach lurched around each corner. I kept telling myself to persevere another few kilometres so the bus could got to my destination, and then I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient public restroom to vomit.

The bus was approaching the street towards the stop when I understood I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Luckily I was toward the front of the bus, so I managed a few steps forward and asked the driver to open the doors, informing him that I was about to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

My intention was to avoid being sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk toward the green space opposite the street, where I believed I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to vomit. However I likely blacked out. I sensed my body but I was unable to walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

Right then, someone picked me up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I required to be sick. Thus, he practically supported my weight over to a close-by structure and guided me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I wanted him to remain with me but I refused.

After a short while, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to rise just then but did manage to say thank you and following a brief period regained the function of my legs. I returned home passing several days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

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

Many times, life tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.