In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.
Back when I was 19 years old, my regular journey to work was on an crowded coach. It remained full and would always be without any seats once I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I was feeling quite nauseous while the vehicle swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to hold on another few kilometres before the bus reached my stop, at which point I could make a mad dash to the closest public toilet to be sick.
The bus was approaching the road leading to the stop when I understood I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. Everything just went white and really quiet; similar to when one cut the sound. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and told the operator to pull over, informing him I was going to be sick. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped out onto the street.
My intention was not to vomit in view of six lanes of traffic, so I gathered myself and endeavored to make my way to the park across the road, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. Yet I likely lost consciousness. I sensed my body but I was unable to walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
At that moment, I was lifted up. I felt someone holding me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I told this kind passerby that I needed to be sick. So he virtually supported my weight down into a close-by structure and put me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to remain with me but I refused.
A few minutes later, I had recovered to the point of sitting down and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise just then but I did succeed to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my legs. I returned home and then spent the following days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I never glimpsed his features – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he helped me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.
Often this world tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that reverses that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination is towards kindness, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.
