I Was So Ill I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Virtually Carried Me to a Bathroom.
At the age of nineteenth year, my regular journey to work involved an express bus. It remained crowded and invariably became standing room only once I boarded.
During a certain commute, I started experiencing terribly ill while the vehicle rocked around every turn. I repeatedly told myself to endure for a few more stops until the bus reached where I needed to get off, at which point I could rush hurriedly to the closest public restroom to be sick.
As we neared the avenue close to the destination as I understood I was unable to make it. In an instant, it seemed a fog descended upon me. The world became blank and silent; similar to when one muted everything. My mind raced, “I’m going to faint”.
Luckily I was close to the driver on the bus, allowing me to take several steps to ask the driver and requested that the driver to pull over, explaining to him I was going to get ill. He opened the doors and I hurriedly stepped on to the pavement.
My intention was to not get sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I forced myself up and began attempting to stumble across to the park opposite the street, where I thought I could at least discreetly hide near some foliage to be sick. But then I must have fainted. I sensed my physical self, yet I was unable to walk or see properly, so I started dragging myself toward my intended destination.
“You right, love?”
At that moment, I got scooped up. I felt a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “Everything alright, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I needed to get to a bathroom. So he virtually helped me walk down into a close-by structure and guided me into the female bathroom. He asked me if I needed him to wait for me but I said no.
Not long after, I had recovered enough to sit on the restroom floor when from beyond the stall I heard his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Is there anything you require?” I wasn’t able to rise at that moment but I was able to say thank you and following a brief period regained the function of my legs. I got myself home passing the following days getting over which was a horrible case of gastroenteritis.
I did not see that man’s face – only his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he held – yet he rescued me, when I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that protective shell. He served as evidence that our default setting is to be kind, something I love about humanity.
