I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Virtually Carried Me to a Restroom.

During my 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and would always be standing room only by the time I stepped aboard.

On one specific day, I was feeling quite nauseous while the vehicle lurched around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could reached where I needed to get off, at which point I could make a mad dash for the nearest washroom to vomit.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to my stop and I understood I wasn’t going to last. In an instant, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. My vision turned blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood near the front on the bus, so I took a few steps toward the driver and told the operator to open the doors, telling him I needed to get ill. The driver opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.

My intention was to avoid being sick before multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and began attempting to walk to the park opposite the street, where I believed I’d at least be able to discreetly hide near some foliage to throw up. But then I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my body but I couldn’t walk and my vision was blurry, so I started inching my way to the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. I sensed an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the mysterious stranger that I needed to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically helped me walk down into a close-by structure and put me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I declined.

Not long after, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the toilet when from beyond the door I heard him inquire, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to rise right away but did manage to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my feet. I returned home and then spent several days getting over what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – just his lower half and a large container for tools he was carrying – but he helped me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Often this world tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that reverses that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore about my fellow humans.