I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of my late teens, my daily commute involved an crowded coach. The vehicle was always full and was consistently standing room only by the time I got on.

During a certain commute, I began feeling terribly ill as the bus swayed around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres before the bus reached my stop, and then I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient washroom to vomit.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to the destination as I understood I would not be to last. All of a sudden, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned blank and silent; like someone had muted everything. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Luckily I was near the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a few steps forward and requested that the driver to pull over, telling him I needed to be sick. He opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was determined to avoid being sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and started trying to walk across to the park on the other side, where I believed it would allow me to discreetly hide behind a bush to vomit. However I apparently fainted. I sensed my body but I was unable to walk or see clearly, leading me to start dragging myself toward the park.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically carried me down into a nearby building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired if I needed him to remain with me but I refused.

After a short while, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the toilet and from outside the door I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but I was able to say thank you and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my feet. I returned home and spent several days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I did not see that man’s face – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – but he helped me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.

Frequently, society tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that hardening of the heart. He served as evidence that our default setting is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.