Feeling So Sick Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of my late teens, my regular journey to work involved an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be completely full once I got on.

On one specific day, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to hold on just a little longer until the bus reached my destination, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest washroom to throw up.

The bus was approaching the street towards the destination as I realised I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it was like a veil came over me. My vision turned blank and silent; like someone had cut the sound. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front of the bus, allowing me to take several steps forward and asked the driver to stop, telling him that I was about to be sick. He opened the entrance and I stumbled out out onto the street.

My intention was not to vomit in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and began attempting to make my way toward the green space across the road, thinking I could it would allow me to discreetly hide behind a bush to throw up. However I likely blacked out. I sensed my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see clearly, so I began crawling towards the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost helped me walk into an adjacent building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired whether I required him to wait for me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I felt better enough to sit down when from beyond the door came him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I could not to get up right away but did manage to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home passing the next few days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see that man’s face – merely his legs and a large container for tools he was carrying – but he saved me, when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people 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 trait I cherish in other people.