In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to a Restroom.
At the age of nineteenth year, my regular journey to work was on an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and would always be completely full once I boarded.
On one specific day, I was feeling incredibly sick as the bus swayed around the bends. I repeatedly told myself to endure just a little longer so the bus could arrived at my stop, at which point I could sprint quickly toward the most convenient washroom to be sick.
The bus was approaching the street towards the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to hold on. In an instant, it felt as if a fog descended upon me. Everything just went blank and silent; similar to when one turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.
Luckily I was toward the front inside the vehicle, so I managed several steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, informing him I needed to vomit. He promptly opened the doors and I stumbled out onto the sidewalk.
I was determined to avoid being sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and endeavored to walk across to the park on the other side, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself behind a bush to vomit. However I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my limbs, but I couldn’t walk or see clearly, leading me to start crawling towards my intended destination.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, someone picked me up. There was an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost carried me down into an adjacent building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to remain with me but I said no.
A few minutes later, I had recovered sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the stall I heard him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to stand up just then but I did succeed to express my gratitude and following a brief period was able to move my limbs. I returned home and then spent the next few days getting over what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.
I never saw the stranger’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, when I was completely helpless.
Many times, life tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that hardening of the heart. He served as evidence that our default setting leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.