In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

During my nineteenth year, my morning travel meant taking an express bus. It remained jammed and was consistently standing room only when I got on.

On one specific day, I was feeling quite nauseous when the coach swayed around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to hold on just a little longer so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest washroom to vomit.

We were coming down the avenue close to the stop when it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it was like a fog descended upon me. The world became blank and silent; similar to when one cut the sound. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a few steps forward and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him I was going to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

I was determined to not get sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and began attempting to make my way to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to be sick. But then I likely fainted. I sensed my body but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“Are you okay, dear?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I felt someone holding me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I had to to be sick. So he virtually carried me into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.

Not long after, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up just then but I was able to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I returned home and then spent the following days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see the stranger’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he had with him – but he helped me, when I was completely helpless.

Many times, life tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.