I Was So Ill Walking Was Impossible As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.
Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute was on an packed public transport. It remained full and was consistently completely full once I boarded.
On one specific day, I was feeling quite nauseous when the coach rocked around each corner. I kept telling myself to persevere for a few more stops until the bus got to my destination, and then I could make a mad dash to the closest washroom to throw up.
The bus was approaching the avenue close to the destination as I understood I wasn’t going to last. Suddenly, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. The world became blank and silent; like someone had cut the sound. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.
Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front of the bus, so I took a couple of steps toward the driver and told the operator to open the doors, telling him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.
I was determined not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and began attempting to make my way across to the park on the other side, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to be sick. But then I apparently lost consciousness. I sensed my limbs, but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started inching my way to the park.
“You right, love?”
In that instant, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I told this unknown man that I had to to vomit. Thus, he practically carried me down into a close-by structure and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He inquired if I wanted him to wait for me but I said no.
Not long after, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from outside the door came him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to get up just then but did manage to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter regained the function of my feet. I returned home and spent the following days healing from what was later diagnosed as a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable container for tools he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.
Many times, life has a way of making you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.
