In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

At the age of my late teens, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. The vehicle was always full and was consistently standing room only when I boarded.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill as the bus swayed around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to persevere for a few more stops until the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could sprint quickly to the closest public toilet to be sick.

We were coming down the avenue close to the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. All of a sudden, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. Everything just went white and really quiet; like someone had cut the sound. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I took a few steps forward and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was resolved to not get sick before six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and started trying to walk to the park on the other side, where I thought I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to vomit. Yet I must have blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“Everything alright, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. There was someone holding me and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I required to be sick. So he virtually helped me walk into a nearby building and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to wait for me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure to the point of sitting down and from the other side of the stall I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to rise at that moment but I did succeed to say thank you and after a few more minutes regained the function of my legs. I made my way home and then spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see his features – merely his legs and the big container for tools he had with him – but he helped me, at a moment I was completely helpless.

Frequently, society can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, something I love in other people.