In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.

At the age of nineteenth year, my morning travel meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and would always be without any seats once I got on.

During a certain commute, I was feeling terribly ill as the bus swayed around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to hold on for a few more stops before the bus reached my stop, at which point I could make a mad dash toward the most convenient washroom to be sick.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it was like a fog descended upon me. Everything just went white and really quiet; similar to when one muted everything. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a couple of steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, informing him that I was about to be sick. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick before multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and started trying to make my way to the park on the other side, where I believed I could at least find some privacy behind a bush to vomit. But then I likely lost consciousness. I could feel my limbs, but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, leading me to start inching my way to the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. There was an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I had to to vomit. Therefore, he almost carried me down into an adjacent building and put me into the female bathroom. He inquired if I needed him to wait for me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to get up at that moment but I was able to thank him and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I returned home and then spent several days recovering from which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable metal toolbox he held – but he saved me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Many times, life has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.