I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Practically Supported Me to a Restroom.
During my 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an express bus. The vehicle was always full and was consistently completely full when I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I began feeling terribly ill when the coach swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to hold on another few kilometres until the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could sprint quickly for the nearest public restroom to vomit.
As we neared the street towards the stop when I understood I would not be to make it. All of a sudden, it seemed a fog descended upon me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; similar to when one muted everything. My mind raced, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood toward the front inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him I needed to get ill. He opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped onto the sidewalk.
I was resolved to avoid being sick before multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to make my way across to the park across the road, thinking I could I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to throw up. Yet I must have lost consciousness. I sensed my body but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I began crawling towards the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
At that moment, I was lifted up. There was an arm around my waist and a stranger inquired, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I required to vomit. Therefore, he almost carried me over to an adjacent building and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I declined.
A few minutes later, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit down and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to stand up just then but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I returned home and then spent the next few days getting over which was a severe stomach virus.
I did not see his features – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – yet he rescued me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.
Many times, life has a way of making you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that protective shell. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination is to be kind, something I love about my fellow humans.
