Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was my late teens, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. The vehicle was always jammed and was consistently standing room only when I got on.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle swayed around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to hold on for a few more stops so the bus could reached my stop, so I could then rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public restroom to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards my stop and I understood I was unable to last. In an instant, it felt as if 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 toward the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, explaining to him I needed to vomit. He promptly opened the doors and I stumbled out out onto the street.

My intention was not to vomit before six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and began attempting to walk toward the green space across the road, where I thought I’d at least be able to find some privacy behind a bush to vomit. However I apparently blacked out. I could feel my physical self, yet walking was impossible or see properly, leading me to start inching my way to the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

At that moment, someone picked me up. I felt an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I required to be sick. Therefore, he almost supported my weight down into an adjacent building and put me into the female bathroom. He inquired whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure enough to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I was able to say thank you and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I got myself home and spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Often this world can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore about humanity.