In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Virtually Carried Me to the Toilets.

Back when I was 19 years old, my morning travel meant taking an crowded coach. It remained jammed and would always be completely full once I got on.

On one specific day, I was feeling incredibly sick while the vehicle rocked around each corner. I repeatedly told myself to endure another few kilometres so the bus could got to where I needed to get off, so I could then make a mad dash for the nearest public restroom to be sick.

We were coming down the street towards the stop when I understood I wasn’t going to make it. In an instant, it was like a veil came over me. My vision turned white and really quiet; as if someone cut the sound. I thought, “I’m going to faint”.

Thankfully, I was positioned near the front on the bus, so I managed a few steps forward and requested that the driver to stop, explaining to him I was going to vomit. He opened the doors and I stumbled out on to the pavement.

I was resolved to not get sick in front of a busy multi-lane road, so I picked myself up and endeavored to make my way across to the park opposite the street, where I thought it would allow me to find some privacy among some shrubs to vomit. But then I apparently fainted. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

In that instant, I was lifted up. I sensed someone holding me and heard a man say, “You right, love?” I explained to this kind passerby that I needed to be sick. Therefore, he almost supported my weight over to a close-by structure and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired if I wanted him to remain with me but I declined.

Not long after, I regained my composure enough to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came him ask, “Are you OK, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to stand up right away but I was able to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter recovered the use of my limbs. I made my way home passing several days recovering from what turned out to be a nasty tummy bug.

I never glimpsed that man’s face – only his legs along with a sizable steelwork tools container he had with him – but he helped me, during a time when I was in my weakest state.

Often this world tends to make people guarded, hostile, and combative. His act was the type of kindness that undoes that protective shell. He served as evidence that humanity’s innate tendency leans toward compassion, a quality I adore in other people.