I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

During my nineteenth year, my regular journey to work was on an express bus. It remained jammed and was consistently completely full when I boarded.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing incredibly sick when the coach swayed around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to hold on for a few more stops before the bus arrived at my destination, and then I could make a mad dash toward the most convenient washroom to vomit.

As we neared the street towards the stop when I understood I was unable to make it. In an instant, it was like a curtain fell over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front on the bus, allowing me to take a few steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I needed to get ill. He opened the bus doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

My intention was to avoid being sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and started trying to walk to the park across the road, where I thought I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to be sick. Yet I likely blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. There was a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost supported my weight down into a nearby building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.

After a short while, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the toilet when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period recovered the use of my feet. I got myself home and spent the next few days getting over what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed his features – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.