I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.

During my my late teens, my daily commute involved an express bus. It remained full and was consistently without any seats when I boarded.

On one specific day, I was feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle lurched around each corner. I kept telling myself to persevere just a little longer so the bus could got to my stop, so I could then sprint quickly to the closest public toilet to vomit.

We were coming down the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. All of a sudden, it was like a veil came over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; like someone had muted everything. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a few steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I was going to get ill. The driver opened the bus doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

I was determined to avoid being sick before multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and endeavored to walk to the park opposite the street, where I thought it would allow me to secretly conceal myself behind a bush to throw up. Yet I likely blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

Right then, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I told this mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me into an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I needed him to stay with me but I said no.

After a short while, I felt better to the point of sitting down when from beyond the door came him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to rise right away but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my legs. I returned home passing several days recovering from which was a severe stomach virus.

I never saw the stranger’s face – merely his legs and a large metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.