I Was So Ill Walking Was Impossible When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.
At the age of nineteenth year, my morning travel meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and was consistently completely full once I stepped aboard.
During a certain commute, I started experiencing incredibly sick while the vehicle swayed around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to persevere for a few more stops so the bus could reached my stop, at which point I could sprint quickly to the closest public restroom to be sick.
We were coming down the street towards my stop and it dawned on me I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone cut the sound. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Fortunately, I stood near the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a few steps to ask the driver and requested that the driver to open the doors, telling him I was going to be sick. He opened the bus doors and I stumbled out on to the pavement.
I was determined not to vomit before six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and began attempting to make my way toward the green space on the other side, thinking I could I’d at least be able to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. But then I likely fainted. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.
“You right, love?”
In that instant, someone picked me up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I required to vomit. So he virtually supported my weight over to a nearby building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired whether I required him to stay with me but I declined.
Not long after, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the toilet and from the other side of the door I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but I did succeed to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my limbs. I made my way home passing the following days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.
I did not see his features – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he helped me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.
Often this world can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination is towards kindness, something I love about my fellow humans.
