I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.
During my my late teens, my regular journey to work was on an packed public transport. It remained crowded and was consistently without any seats once I stepped aboard.
During a certain commute, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure just a little longer before the bus arrived at where I needed to get off, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest public restroom to be sick.
As we neared the avenue close to the stop when I understood I was unable to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became hazy and muffled; like someone had cut the sound. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver on the bus, so I managed a couple of steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to stop, telling him that I was about to vomit. He opened the entrance and I weakly exited on to the pavement.
I was determined to not get sick in view 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 could at least find some privacy near some foliage to throw up. Yet I must have blacked out. I was aware of my limbs, but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, leading me to start dragging myself toward the grassy area.
“Are you okay, dear?”
Right then, someone picked me up. I sensed someone holding me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this mysterious stranger that I required to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically carried me over to a close-by structure and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.
A few minutes later, I felt better enough to sit down and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but I did succeed to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I returned home and then spent several days healing from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.
I never saw his features – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.
Often this world can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He served as evidence that our default setting is to be kind, something I love about my fellow humans.
