Feeling So Sick Walking Was Impossible As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

During my my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an crowded coach. It remained crowded and was consistently completely full once I got on.

During a certain commute, I was feeling quite nauseous as the bus lurched around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to persevere just a little longer so the bus could got to my destination, and then I could rush hurriedly to the closest washroom to vomit.

We were coming down the street towards my stop and I realised I would not be to last. All of a sudden, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; as if someone cut the sound. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front on the bus, so I managed a few steps to ask the driver and requested that the driver to open the doors, informing him I needed to vomit. The driver opened the bus doors and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to stumble across to the park opposite the street, where I believed I’d at least be able to find some privacy among some shrubs to be sick. However I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see properly, so I began crawling towards the park.

“Everything alright, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. There was an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I had to to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost supported my weight down into an adjacent building and placed me into the female bathroom. He inquired whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.

A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to rise at that moment but I was able to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I made my way home and then spent several days recovering from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs and a large metal toolbox he held – but he helped me, at a moment 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 protective shell. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.