In Such Poor Health I Couldn’t Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.

Back when I was my late teens, my morning travel involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually jammed and was consistently standing room only by the time I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill while the vehicle lurched around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to persevere for a few more stops until the bus arrived at my destination, and then I could rush hurriedly for the nearest washroom to vomit.

As we neared the avenue close to the stop when I understood I was unable to hold on. All of a sudden, it was like a veil came over me. The world became white and really quiet; like someone had turned off the audio. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front inside the vehicle, so I managed a few steps forward and asked the driver to stop, telling him I was going to get ill. He promptly opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was resolved not to vomit in front of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and endeavored to stumble to the park across the road, where I thought it would allow me to discreetly hide among some shrubs to be sick. Yet I apparently fainted. I could feel my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started crawling towards the grassy area.

“Everything alright, love?”

In that instant, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I told this kind passerby that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He asked me whether I required him to remain with me but I said no.

Not long after, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down and from outside the stall I heard him ask, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I wasn’t able to get up at that moment but did manage to thank him and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I got myself home and spent the next few days getting over which was a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he held – but he saved me, at a moment I was in my weakest state.

Often this world can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that hardening of the heart. He was proof that humanity’s innate tendency is to be kind, a trait I cherish in other people.