Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.

During my 19 years old, my regular journey to work involved an express bus. It was perpetually full and was consistently standing room only when I got on.

On one specific day, I started experiencing terribly ill when the coach swayed around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres before the bus got to where I needed to get off, and then I could make a mad dash to the closest public toilet to be sick.

As we neared the street towards the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became blank and silent; like someone had cut the sound. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps forward and told the operator to pull over, explaining to him I needed to get ill. He promptly opened the entrance and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.

My intention was to avoid being sick in front of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to walk across to the park on the other side, where I thought I could at least secretly conceal myself near some foliage to vomit. Yet I likely lost consciousness. I was aware of my body but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.

“Are you okay, dear?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I felt someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I needed to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight down into an adjacent building and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know if I needed him to remain with me but I declined.

Not long after, I felt better enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up at that moment but I did succeed to say thank you and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I returned home and spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – only his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he saved me, when I was at my most vulnerable.

Frequently, society tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish in other people.