In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was my late teens, my daily commute was on an packed public transport. It remained full and would always be without any seats when I boarded.

During a certain commute, I was feeling incredibly sick as the bus rocked around the bends. I kept telling myself to persevere just a little longer before the bus arrived at my destination, so I could then sprint quickly to the closest public toilet to be sick.

The bus was approaching the avenue close to the stop when it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it seemed a veil came over me. The world became blank and silent; as if someone turned off the audio. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Fortunately, I stood toward the front of the bus, so I took several steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, telling him I needed to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I stumbled out out onto the street.

My intention was to not get sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and started trying to stumble to the park on the other side, where I believed it would allow me to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. However I apparently blacked out. I could feel my physical self, yet walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, leading me to start inching my way to the park.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I needed to be sick. So he virtually carried me down into a close-by structure and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me if I wanted him to stay with me but I said no.

After a short while, I felt better enough to sit on the restroom floor when from beyond the door came his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to rise at that moment but I was able to say thank you and after a few more minutes was able to move my feet. I got myself home and then spent several days getting over what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – but he helped me, when I was completely helpless.

Often this world has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that hardening of the heart. He demonstrated that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.