In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.
Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute involved an crowded coach. It remained jammed and was consistently standing room only by the time I got on.
One particular morning, I started experiencing incredibly sick when the coach rocked around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres until the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to throw up.
We were coming down the street towards the stop when I realised I was unable to hold on. Suddenly, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; as if someone cut the sound. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.
Luckily I was close to the driver on the bus, allowing me to take a few steps toward the driver and asked the driver to stop, telling him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved to not get sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to throw up. Yet I likely blacked out. I sensed my physical self, yet I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, so I started dragging myself toward the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
In that instant, someone picked me up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I told this unknown man that I needed to be sick. Thus, he practically supported my weight over to an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to wait for me but I refused.
After a short while, I regained my composure enough to sit down and from the other side of the door I heard him ask, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I could not to rise just then but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I made my way home and spent the following days getting over which was a nasty tummy bug.
I did not see that man’s face – just his lower half and the big steelwork tools container he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting is towards kindness, something I love about my fellow humans.
