I Was So Ill Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an express bus. The vehicle was always jammed and was consistently standing room only once I boarded.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill when the coach lurched around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to persevere just a little longer before the bus reached my stop, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public toilet to throw up.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to my stop and it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it was like a veil came over me. My vision turned blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front on the bus, so I took several steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, explaining to him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the bus doors and I stumbled out out onto the street.

My intention was not to vomit in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and endeavored to walk to the park across the road, where I believed it would allow me to secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to vomit. Yet I apparently fainted. I was aware of my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see properly, so I began dragging myself toward the park.

“Everything alright, love?”

At that moment, someone picked me up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I required to be sick. Therefore, he almost supported my weight into an adjacent building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to remain with me but I said no.

A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to stand up right away but I was able to express my gratitude and following a brief period was able to move my feet. I got myself home and spent several days getting over what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see that man’s face – only his legs and the big container for tools he held – yet he rescued me, when I was in my weakest state.

Many times, life has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore about humanity.