I Was So Ill Walking Was Impossible As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was nineteenth year, my regular journey to work involved an packed public transport. It remained crowded and invariably became completely full by the time I stepped aboard.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing terribly ill when the coach lurched around every turn. I kept telling myself to endure just a little longer so the bus could got to my destination, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to vomit.

As we neared the avenue close to my stop and I understood I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it was like a fog descended upon me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone muted everything. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front on the bus, so I managed several steps forward and asked the driver to pull over, explaining to him that I was about to get ill. The driver opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was resolved not to vomit in front of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and started trying to stumble across to the park across the road, where I believed I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself behind a bush to be sick. But then I likely fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. I felt an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I needed to vomit. Thus, he practically carried me over to an adjacent building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.

A few minutes later, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down and from the other side of the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I could not to get up right away but I was able to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my legs. I made my way home and then spent several days getting over which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never saw his features – merely his legs and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that protective shell. He was proof that our default setting leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish in other people.