In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.
Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually full and would always be without any seats once I stepped aboard.
During a certain commute, I started experiencing terribly ill while the vehicle swayed around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to endure just a little longer until the bus reached where I needed to get off, at which point I could make a mad dash to the closest public toilet to throw up.
As we neared the road leading to my stop and I realised I was unable to hold on. All of a sudden, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. The world became blank and silent; like someone had muted everything. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood near the front on the bus, so I took several steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I needed to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I weakly exited out onto the street.
I was determined to not get sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and began attempting to make my way across to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I’d at least be able to discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. But then I likely fainted. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I began crawling towards my intended destination.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, I got scooped up. There was someone holding me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this unknown man that I had to to get to a bathroom. So he virtually supported my weight over to a close-by structure and placed me into the female bathroom. He inquired if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.
After a short while, I had recovered enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to get up at that moment but I was able to say thank you and shortly thereafter regained the function of my legs. I got myself home and spent the following days getting over which was a severe stomach virus.
I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable container for tools he held – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.
Frequently, society has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that emotional callousness. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish in other people.
