I Was So Ill Walking Was Impossible As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was nineteenth year, my morning travel was on an express bus. It was perpetually crowded and invariably became standing room only when I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I started experiencing quite nauseous while the vehicle rocked around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could arrived at where I needed to get off, at which point I could rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public restroom to be sick.

The bus was approaching the road leading to the destination as I realised I wasn’t going to last. In an instant, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. The world became blank and silent; like someone had cut the sound. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front of the bus, so I took a few steps toward the driver and asked the driver to pull over, telling him that I was about to get ill. He opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

My intention was to avoid being sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and began attempting to stumble toward the green space across the road, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. Yet I apparently blacked out. I could feel my body but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I began crawling towards the park.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost carried me down into an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to stay with me but I refused.

After a short while, I felt better enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up right away but did manage to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my legs. I got myself home and spent several days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never saw that man’s face – just his lower half and the big container for tools he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, something I love in other people.