I Was So Ill I Couldn’t Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.
During my nineteenth year, my daily commute involved an express bus. It was perpetually jammed and invariably became without any seats once I stepped aboard.
On one specific day, I began feeling quite nauseous while the vehicle rocked around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to persevere another few kilometres until the bus got to where I needed to get off, at which point I could make a mad dash for the nearest public toilet to vomit.
We were coming down the road leading to the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it was like a veil came over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; as if someone turned off the audio. My mind raced, “I am about to pass out”.
Thankfully, I was positioned close to the driver of the bus, allowing me to take a few steps to ask the driver and told the operator to pull over, informing him I was going to vomit. He opened the bus doors and I weakly exited on to the pavement.
I was resolved to avoid being sick in view of six lanes of traffic, so I picked myself up and started trying to walk toward the green space opposite the street, where I thought I could at least secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to be sick. Yet I apparently lost consciousness. I was aware of my body but I couldn’t walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the grassy area.
“Everything alright, love?”
Right then, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Are you okay, dear?” I explained to this mysterious stranger that I required to get to a bathroom. So he virtually supported my weight down into a nearby building and placed me into the female bathroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to stay with me but I said no.
After a short while, I felt better sufficiently to sit on the toilet and from the other side of the stall I heard him ask, “Do you need anything, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to stand up at that moment but did manage to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my feet. I made my way home and spent several days getting over which was a severe stomach virus.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – merely his legs along with a sizable metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.
Many times, life has a way of making you defensive, aggressive and competitive. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He demonstrated that our default setting is to be kind, a quality I adore in other people.