In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.
During my my late teens, my regular journey to work was on an express bus. It remained full and was consistently standing room only once I boarded.
One particular morning, I started experiencing terribly ill while the vehicle rocked around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to hold on another few kilometres so the bus could reached my stop, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest washroom to vomit.
As we neared the avenue close to the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to last. All of a sudden, it was like a curtain fell over me. The world became hazy and muffled; similar to when one cut the sound. I thought, “I am about to pass out”.
Fortunately, I stood near the front of the bus, so I managed several steps to ask the driver and told the operator to stop, telling him that I was about to vomit. He promptly opened the doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
My intention was not to vomit in view of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and started trying to walk to the park opposite the street, where I believed I could at least secretly conceal myself near some foliage to be sick. However I must have blacked out. I sensed my limbs, but I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.
“Everything alright, love?”
Right then, someone picked me up. I felt someone holding me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I told this kind passerby that I required to vomit. Thus, he practically helped me walk down into an adjacent building and guided me inside the women’s restroom. He asked me if I wanted him to remain with me but I said no.
A few minutes later, I felt better 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 could not to get up just then but did manage to thank him and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my limbs. I got myself home and spent the following days healing from what turned out to be a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I never saw his features – only his legs and the big metal toolbox he was carrying – but he saved me, when I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society can make you guarded, hostile, and combative. His was the sort of gesture that melts away that protective shell. He was proof that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, a quality I adore about humanity.
