I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.

During my 19 years old, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually jammed and was consistently standing room only by the time I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I was feeling incredibly sick when the coach swayed around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to endure just a little longer before the bus arrived at my destination, at which point I could rush hurriedly for the nearest washroom to be sick.

We were coming down the avenue close to my stop and it dawned on me I was unable to make it. In an instant, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; similar to when one turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front of the bus, so I managed several steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the bus doors and I stumbled out out onto the street.

My intention was to not get sick before multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to stumble across to the park across the road, thinking I could it would allow me to discreetly hide among some shrubs to vomit. Yet I likely blacked out. I could feel my body but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started inching my way to my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. There was a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I required to be sick. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from outside the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to get up just then but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I returned home passing the following days healing from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable container for tools he held – but he saved me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that our default setting is to be kind, a trait I cherish in other people.