Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

Back when I was 19 years old, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually crowded and invariably became without any seats once I got on.

During a certain commute, I was feeling quite nauseous as the bus rocked around each corner. I kept telling myself to endure another few kilometres before the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to throw up.

The bus was approaching the street towards my stop and I understood I would not be to last. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; like someone had turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I am about to pass out”.

Luckily I was toward the front of the bus, so I managed a few steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, telling him I needed to be sick. He opened the entrance and I weakly exited on to the pavement.

I was resolved to not get sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and started trying to walk across to the park on the other side, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to be sick. Yet I must have fainted. I was aware of my body but I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started crawling towards my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. There was a strong arm supporting me and a stranger inquired, “Are you okay, dear?” I managed to tell the kind passerby that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually carried me into an adjacent building and put me into the female bathroom. He asked me whether I required him to wait for me but I declined.

Not long after, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the door came him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise at that moment but did manage to express my gratitude and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I returned home passing the following days healing from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed his features – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he saved me, at a moment I was completely helpless.

Often this world can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that our default setting leans toward compassion, something I love about my fellow humans.