Feeling So Sick Walking Was Impossible Until a Fellow Passenger Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.

At the age of my late teens, my morning travel meant taking an crowded coach. The vehicle was always crowded and invariably became standing room only once I boarded.

During a certain commute, I started experiencing quite nauseous while the vehicle swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to endure for a few more stops before the bus arrived at my destination, at which point I could sprint quickly to the closest public restroom to throw up.

We were coming down the street towards my stop and I understood I wasn’t going to make it. All of a sudden, it seemed a curtain fell over me. The world became blank and silent; as if someone muted everything. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Thankfully, I was positioned toward the front on the bus, so I managed a couple of steps to ask the driver and told the operator to pull over, telling him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the entrance and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.

I was determined not to vomit in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I gathered myself and began attempting to walk toward the green space on the other side, where I believed it would allow me to secretly conceal myself near some foliage to be sick. Yet I must have fainted. I sensed my body but walking was impossible or see clearly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“Everything alright, love?”

Right then, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “You right, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I required to be sick. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into a nearby building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I wanted him to wait for me but I refused.

Not long after, I regained my composure enough to sit down and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I was incapable to rise right away but I was able to express my gratitude and after a few more minutes was able to move my legs. I returned home and spent the next few days healing from which was a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – only his legs and a large steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, during a time when I was completely helpless.

Frequently, society has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency is to be kind, a quality I adore in other people.