In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.
During my 19 years old, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. It remained full and was consistently without any seats once I got on.
On one specific day, I was feeling quite nauseous while the vehicle lurched around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to persevere just a little longer so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could sprint quickly to the closest washroom to vomit.
The bus was approaching the road leading to my stop and I understood I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. The world became blank and silent; as if someone muted everything. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood near the front on the bus, so I took a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to pull over, telling him I was going to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
My intention was to not get sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and endeavored to walk toward the green space across the road, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself behind a bush to throw up. Yet I likely lost consciousness. I sensed my limbs, but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, leading me to start dragging myself toward the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
In that instant, I got scooped up. I felt someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I had to to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired whether I required him to wait for me but I refused.
Not long after, I had recovered sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up right away but did manage to thank him and following a brief period was able to move my legs. I returned home and spent several days healing from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he had with him – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.
Often this world has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore in other people.
