In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an crowded coach. It remained crowded and would always be completely full once I got on.

On one specific day, I started experiencing terribly ill when the coach lurched around the bends. I kept telling myself to hold on just a little longer until the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, so I could then sprint quickly to the closest public restroom to vomit.

The bus was approaching the street towards my stop and I understood I wasn’t going to make it. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; similar to when one turned off the audio. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front on the bus, so I managed a few steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was resolved to avoid being sick before six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and started trying to stumble across to the park opposite the street, where I believed I could at least discreetly hide behind a bush to vomit. Yet I apparently blacked out. I sensed my limbs, but I couldn’t walk or see properly, leading me to start inching my way to my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I told this unknown man that I had to to vomit. So he virtually supported my weight into a close-by structure and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.

After a short while, I felt better enough to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the door I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I could not to get up at that moment but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter was able to move my feet. I made my way home and spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he held – but he saved me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Frequently, society can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.