In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

Back when I was 19 years old, my daily commute was on an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and was consistently standing room only by the time I stepped aboard.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing incredibly sick while the vehicle lurched around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to endure just a little longer before the bus got to my stop, so I could then make a mad dash to the closest public toilet to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards the destination as I understood I would not be to last. Suddenly, it seemed a curtain fell over me. Everything just went white and really quiet; as if someone muted everything. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps forward and requested that the driver to pull over, informing him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

I was determined to not get sick before six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and started trying to walk across to the park opposite the street, where I believed I’d at least be able to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. However I likely blacked out. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk or see clearly, leading me to start crawling towards the park.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually supported my weight into a close-by structure and put me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.

After a short while, I had recovered to the point of sitting down and from the other side of the door came him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I could not to rise at that moment but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period was able to move my legs. I returned home and spent the following days recovering from which was a severe stomach virus.

I never saw the stranger’s face – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he helped me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world has a way of making you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, something I love about my fellow humans.