In Such Poor Health Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.
During my nineteenth year, my morning travel involved an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be completely full once I stepped aboard.
On one specific day, I began feeling quite nauseous while the vehicle rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to persevere another few kilometres so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, so I could then rush hurriedly for the nearest public restroom to vomit.
We were coming down the road leading to the stop when I understood I would not be to hold on. All of a sudden, it was like a fog descended upon me. My vision turned white and really quiet; similar to when one turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.
Thankfully, I was positioned near the front of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps forward and asked the driver to pull over, informing him I needed to get ill. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.
I was resolved to not get sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and began attempting to walk toward the green space opposite the street, thinking I could I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself behind a bush to be sick. Yet I likely blacked out. I sensed my limbs, but walking was impossible or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards my intended destination.
“Everything alright, love?”
At that moment, I was lifted up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually supported my weight into an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to wait for me but I said no.
Not long after, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I wasn’t able to stand up right away but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period recovered the use of my feet. I made my way home passing the following days healing from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.
I never saw his features – only his legs along with a sizable metal toolbox he was carrying – but he helped me, when I was in my weakest state.
Frequently, society can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, something I love about humanity.
