Feeling So Sick I Was Unable to Walk Until a Fellow Passenger Practically Supported Me to the Toilets.
During my 19 years old, my morning travel was on an express bus. The vehicle was always jammed and invariably became without any seats when I boarded.
During a certain commute, I was feeling incredibly sick when the coach lurched around the bends. I kept telling myself to endure just a little longer so the bus could reached where I needed to get off, so I could then sprint quickly toward the most convenient public toilet to be sick.
We were coming down the road leading to the destination as I realised I would not be to make it. Suddenly, it felt as if a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; as if someone muted everything. I said to myself, “I’m going to faint”.
Thankfully, I was positioned near the front on the bus, allowing me to take a couple of steps toward the driver and requested that the driver to open the doors, explaining to him I needed to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I weakly exited onto the sidewalk.
My intention was to not get sick in view of six lanes of traffic, so I forced myself up and endeavored to stumble toward the green space across the road, where I thought I could at least find some privacy near some foliage to vomit. Yet I must have blacked out. I sensed my body but I couldn’t walk or see clearly, so I began dragging myself toward my intended destination.
“Are you okay, dear?”
At that moment, I got scooped up. I sensed a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I told this unknown man that I needed to vomit. Therefore, he almost helped me walk down into an adjacent building and put me inside the women’s restroom. He wanted to know if I needed him to remain with me but I declined.
A few minutes later, I regained my composure to the point of sitting on the toilet and from the other side of the stall I heard his voice asking, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I wasn’t able to get up just then but I was able to thank him and after a few more minutes recovered the use of my feet. I made my way home and then spent several days recovering from what was later diagnosed as a nasty tummy bug.
I did not see his features – only his legs and the big steelwork tools container he held – but he helped me, when I was at my most vulnerable.
Frequently, society can make you defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that undoes that emotional callousness. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, something I love about humanity.