I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.
During my nineteenth year, my morning travel involved an crowded coach. The vehicle was always full and would always be completely full when I stepped aboard.
During a certain commute, I was feeling terribly ill as the bus swayed around each corner. I kept telling myself to hold on just a little longer before the bus arrived at my destination, at which point I could make a mad dash to the closest public restroom to throw up.
As we neared the road leading to my stop and I realised I was unable to make it. All of a sudden, it seemed a curtain fell over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; as if someone cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.
Fortunately, I stood close to the driver inside the vehicle, allowing me to take a few steps toward the driver and told the operator to pull over, informing him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.
My intention was not to vomit in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and began attempting to make my way toward the green space opposite the street, where I believed it would allow me to find some privacy behind a bush to be sick. Yet I likely blacked out. I could feel my limbs, but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I began dragging myself toward the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
In that instant, I got scooped up. I felt someone holding me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I had to to be sick. Therefore, he almost carried me into a close-by structure and placed me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I needed him to stay with me but I declined.
After a short while, I had recovered to the point of sitting down and from outside the stall I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise at that moment but did manage to say thank you and after a few more minutes regained the function of my limbs. I got myself home and spent the next few days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.
I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – just his lower half and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was completely helpless.
Frequently, society can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that protective shell. He demonstrated that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a trait I cherish about humanity.
