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

At the age of 19 years old, my morning travel was on an crowded coach. It remained crowded and invariably became without any seats once I boarded.

On one specific day, I started experiencing terribly ill as the bus swayed around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to hold on just a little longer so the bus could arrived at my destination, at which point I could make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.

We were coming down the street towards my stop and I understood I was unable to make it. All of a sudden, it felt as if a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.

Luckily I was near the front of the bus, so I managed a couple of steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to open the doors, informing him I needed to be sick. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

My intention was to not get sick in view of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and endeavored to walk to the park opposite the street, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. But then I apparently blacked out. I could feel my body but I was unable to walk or see clearly, leading me to start dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, someone picked me up. I felt an arm around my waist and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this unknown man that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually helped me walk down into an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I felt better to the point of sitting on the restroom floor and from the other side of the stall I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I could not to rise right away but I did succeed to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter was able to move my legs. I got myself home and spent the following days healing from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable metal toolbox he held – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Many times, life tends to make people self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is towards kindness, a quality I adore in other people.