I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of 19 years old, my daily commute meant taking an crowded coach. The vehicle was always jammed and was consistently completely full by the time I boarded.

On one specific day, I was feeling terribly ill when the coach lurched around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres until the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly to the closest public toilet to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards the stop when I realised I would not be to last. Suddenly, it seemed a curtain fell over me. The world became hazy and muffled; like someone had cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I managed several steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, explaining to him that I was about to get ill. He opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was resolved not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and endeavored to stumble to the park opposite the street, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy among some shrubs to vomit. However I must have lost consciousness. I sensed my body but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I began dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“Are you okay, dear?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I required to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost supported my weight down into a close-by structure and put me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I refused.

Not long after, I had recovered enough to sit down and from the other side of the door I heard him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I could not to get up at that moment but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home and then spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed his features – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, when I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that protective shell. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, something I love about my fellow humans.