In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Practically Supported Me to a Bathroom.

Back when I was 19 years old, my regular journey to work was on an crowded coach. It was perpetually jammed and would always be standing room only when I boarded.

During a certain commute, I was feeling terribly ill while the vehicle swayed around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to persevere another few kilometres before the bus arrived at my stop, so I could then make a mad dash toward the most convenient washroom to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I was unable to hold on. Suddenly, it was like a fog descended upon me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; like someone had muted everything. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a few steps forward and asked the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

I was resolved not to vomit in front of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and started trying to stumble across to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I’d at least be able to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to vomit. Yet I must have fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I began dragging myself toward the park.

“Are you okay, dear?”

Right then, someone picked me up. I felt someone holding me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.

A few minutes later, I had recovered enough to sit on the restroom floor and from outside the stall I heard him ask, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to get up right away but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period recovered the use of my feet. I got myself home and spent the next few days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I did not see the stranger’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable metal toolbox he held – yet he rescued me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.