Feeling So Sick Walking Was Impossible When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.

Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. The vehicle was always full and invariably became standing room only once I boarded.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill when the coach rocked around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to persevere just a little longer until the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest public toilet to be sick.

As we neared the street towards the stop when I understood I wasn’t going to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. My vision turned blank and silent; as if someone cut the sound. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front on the bus, so I took several steps toward the driver and told the operator to pull over, informing him that I was about to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I weakly exited out onto the street.

I was determined not to vomit before six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park on the other side, where I thought I’d at least be able to find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. Yet I apparently blacked out. I was aware of my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, someone picked me up. There was a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I required to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk down into an adjacent building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to wait for me but I said no.

Not long after, I felt better to the point of sitting on the restroom floor when from beyond the door I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to stand up right away but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home and then spent the following days getting over which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs and a large steelwork tools container he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His act was the type of kindness that melts away that protective shell. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, a quality I adore in other people.