I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.

During my nineteenth year, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. It remained full and was consistently without any seats when I boarded.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure just a little longer until the bus reached my destination, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to be sick.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and I understood I would not be to last. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; as if someone cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Luckily I was toward the front on the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, telling him I was going to vomit. The driver opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was determined to not get sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and began attempting to make my way across to the park on the other side, where I believed I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to throw up. Yet I apparently blacked out. I could feel my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. I felt an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I told this kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically carried me down into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down when from beyond the door came him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise just then but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period was able to move my feet. I returned home and then spent the following days healing from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed his features – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he had with him – but he saved me, when I was in my weakest state.

Frequently, society can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.