In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was my late teens, my regular journey to work meant taking an packed public transport. The vehicle was always jammed and invariably became completely full once I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I began feeling quite nauseous when the coach rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure just a little longer before the bus arrived at my destination, and then I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient washroom to throw up.

As we neared the road leading to my stop and I realised I wasn’t going to last. All of a sudden, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; like someone had muted everything. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps forward and told the operator to pull over, explaining to him that I was about to get ill. He promptly opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and began attempting to walk to the park opposite the street, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. But then I apparently fainted. I could feel my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see properly, so I began inching my way to the grassy area.

“Everything alright, love?”

In that instant, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost helped me walk over to a nearby building and placed me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I refused.

Not long after, I felt better enough to sit down and from outside the door came his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to stand up at that moment but did manage to thank him and following a brief period was able to move my limbs. I returned home passing several days getting over which was a nasty tummy bug.

I never saw his features – merely his legs and a large metal toolbox he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Often this world has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that our default setting leans toward compassion, something I love about humanity.