In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk As a Stranger Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

During my 19 years old, my morning travel was on an packed public transport. It was perpetually jammed and was consistently standing room only when I stepped aboard.

One particular morning, I was feeling quite nauseous as the bus lurched around each corner. I kept telling myself to endure for a few more stops so the bus could got to my destination, so I could then rush hurriedly for the nearest public restroom to throw up.

As we neared the street towards the stop when I realised I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it seemed a fog descended upon me. Everything just went hazy and muffled; similar to when one cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.

Fortunately, I stood close to the driver inside the vehicle, so I took a couple of steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, informing him that I was about to vomit. The driver opened the doors and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

I was determined to avoid being sick in view of a busy multi-lane road, so I forced myself up and endeavored to stumble across to the park across the road, thinking I could it would allow me to find some privacy near some foliage to be sick. However I likely fainted. I was aware of my body but I was unable to walk and my vision was blurry, leading me to start inching my way to my intended destination.

“You right, love?”

At that moment, I got scooped up. There was someone holding me and heard a man say, “Are you okay, dear?” I told this mysterious stranger that I needed to be sick. Thus, he practically supported my weight into an adjacent building and placed me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know whether I required him to remain with me but I said no.

After a short while, I felt better sufficiently to sit down and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you feeling better, dear? Can I get you something?” I was incapable to rise right away but did manage to express my gratitude and following a brief period regained the function of my feet. I made my way home and spent the next few days recovering from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I did not see his features – merely his legs and a large container for tools he held – but he helped me, at a moment I was completely helpless.

Often this world can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that reverses that hardening of the heart. He was proof that our default setting is to be kind, a trait I cherish about my fellow humans.