In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was 19 years old, my regular journey to work involved an express bus. The vehicle was always crowded and would always be without any seats by the time I boarded.

One particular morning, I began feeling incredibly sick as the bus swayed around the bends. I continuously reassured myself to endure just a little longer until the bus arrived at my destination, so I could then sprint quickly to the closest public restroom to throw up.

As we neared the street towards my stop and it dawned on me I was unable to last. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front on the bus, so I took a couple of steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to pull over, telling him I was going to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was determined not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and began attempting to stumble across to the park on the other side, where I thought it would allow me to secretly conceal myself behind a bush to vomit. Yet I likely fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see clearly, leading me to start inching my way to the park.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I had to to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk over to an adjacent building and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I refused.

After a short while, I had recovered sufficiently to sit down when from beyond the door I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I could not to rise right away but I was able to say thank you and shortly thereafter was able to move my feet. I returned home and spent the following days getting over what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – only his legs and a large container for tools he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Frequently, society tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that reverses that emotional callousness. He was proof that our default setting is to be kind, something I love in other people.