Feeling So Sick I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.
At the age of 19 years old, my regular journey to work meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and was consistently standing room only by the time I boarded.
During a certain commute, I was feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle rocked around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to hold on another few kilometres so the bus could arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest public toilet to be sick.
As we neared the street towards my stop and I understood I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. Everything just went blank and silent; like someone had cut the sound. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.
Luckily I was toward the front on the bus, so I took a couple of steps forward and told the operator to stop, telling him I needed to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved to avoid being sick before six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and started trying to stumble to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to throw up. However I must have fainted. I was aware of my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see clearly, so I started crawling towards the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
In that instant, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I told this kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually helped me walk over to a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.
Not long after, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the stall I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I could not to rise at that moment but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my legs. I returned home and then spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.
I never saw his features – only his legs and a large container for tools he had with him – but he saved me, during a time when I was completely helpless.
Frequently, society tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that protective shell. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore about humanity.