In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.

During my nineteenth year, my morning travel involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually jammed and invariably became without any seats by the time I boarded.

One particular morning, I was feeling terribly ill when the coach swayed around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to persevere for a few more stops until the bus got to my stop, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest washroom to be sick.

We were coming down the street towards the destination as I understood I would not be to hold on. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Luckily I was near the front on the bus, so I managed a couple of steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, explaining to him that I was about to be sick. The driver opened the entrance and I weakly exited out onto the street.

I was determined to not get sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and started trying to walk across to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to vomit. Yet I must have fainted. I could feel my limbs, but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started inching my way to my intended destination.

“Are you okay, dear?”

At that moment, I was lifted up. I sensed someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this unknown man that I needed to be sick. So he virtually helped me walk over to a nearby building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired whether I required him to wait for me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I felt better to the point of sitting down and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I could not to stand up just then but I was able to thank him and shortly thereafter regained the function of my limbs. I got myself home and spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see the stranger’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable container for tools he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.