I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.
During my 19 years old, my daily commute involved an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and invariably became standing room only when I got on.
On one specific day, I began feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle rocked around every turn. I kept telling myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could arrived at my destination, so I could then make a mad dash for the nearest public toilet to be sick.
We were coming down the street towards the destination as I understood I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it seemed a veil came over me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; like someone had cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.
Thankfully, I was positioned near the front of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, telling him that I was about to get ill. He promptly opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.
I was resolved to not get sick before six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and began attempting to make my way toward the green space across the road, where I believed it would allow me to find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. But then I must have blacked out. I was aware of my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
Right then, someone picked me up. There was an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost carried me over to an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to stay with me but I declined.
A few minutes later, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door came him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to get up right away but I did succeed to say thank you and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I made my way home and spent the next few days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, when I was completely helpless.
Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He was proof that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.