Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to the Toilets.
At the age of my late teens, my daily commute meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and invariably became standing room only when I stepped aboard.
One particular morning, I started experiencing terribly ill as the bus rocked around each corner. I continuously reassured myself to endure just a little longer so the bus could reached my stop, and then I could rush hurriedly toward the most convenient washroom to be sick.
We were coming down the avenue close to the destination as I understood I was unable to last. In an instant, it seemed a fog descended upon me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; similar to when one turned off the audio. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Luckily I was close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I managed a couple of steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, explaining to him I needed to be sick. The driver opened the bus doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.
My intention was not to vomit in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and started trying to stumble to the park across the road, where I believed it would allow me to discreetly hide behind a bush to vomit. However I likely blacked out. I sensed my physical self, yet I couldn’t walk or see properly, leading me to start crawling towards the park.
“Everything alright, love?”
In that instant, someone picked me up. There was someone holding me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I told this unknown man that I required to get to a bathroom. Thus, he practically helped me walk down into a nearby building and put me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I needed him to remain with me but I refused.
After a short while, I felt better enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the stall I heard him inquire, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up right away but I did succeed to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my legs. I got myself home and then spent the next few days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a severe stomach virus.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he had with him – but he helped me, during a time when I was completely helpless.
Many times, life has a way of making you guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.
