I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.

At the age of my late teens, my regular journey to work was on an crowded coach. It was perpetually full and was consistently standing room only when I got on.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing incredibly sick as the bus swayed around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to endure for a few more stops until the bus got to my destination, at which point I could sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I would not be to hold on. All of a sudden, it seemed a curtain fell over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone cut the sound. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps to ask the driver and told the operator to open the doors, informing him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was resolved to not get sick in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and began attempting to walk to the park opposite the street, where I believed I’d at least be able to discreetly hide behind a bush to be sick. However I likely blacked out. I was aware of my limbs, but I couldn’t walk or see properly, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I had to to vomit. Thus, he practically helped me walk down into a close-by structure and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I needed him to wait for me but I declined.

After a short while, I regained my composure enough to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up right away but did manage to thank him and following a brief period recovered the use of my legs. I made my way home passing the next few days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed his features – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He was proof that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, something I love about my fellow humans.