Feeling So Sick Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

During my my late teens, my regular journey to work was on an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and would always be completely full once I got on.

One particular morning, I began feeling quite nauseous when the coach swayed around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then rush hurriedly toward the most convenient public restroom to throw up.

We were coming down the avenue close to the destination as I understood I was unable to last. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front inside the vehicle, so I took a couple of steps to ask the driver and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him I was going to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

I was resolved not to vomit in front of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and started trying to walk across to the park across the road, where I thought I’d at least be able to find some privacy 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 crawling towards the park.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually supported my weight down into a nearby building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure enough to sit on the toilet when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to rise right away but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I got myself home and then spent several days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see his features – only his legs and the big container for tools he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that emotional callousness. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.