In Such Poor Health I Was Unable to Walk When a Man Essentially Lifted Me to a Bathroom.

At the age of 19 years old, my regular journey to work involved an crowded coach. It was perpetually full and invariably became standing room only when I got on.

One particular morning, I was feeling terribly ill when the coach swayed around every turn. I continuously reassured myself to hold on another few kilometres so the bus could arrived at my stop, and then I could sprint quickly to the closest washroom to be sick.

As we neared the street towards the destination as it dawned on me I wasn’t going to hold on. Suddenly, it felt as if a curtain fell over me. The world became white and really quiet; like someone had muted everything. I said to myself, “I will lose consciousness”.

Luckily I was close to the driver of the bus, so I managed several steps to ask the driver and asked the driver to stop, telling him I was going to be sick. He promptly opened the bus doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.

I was resolved to not get sick before a busy multi-lane road, so I gathered myself and began attempting to make my way to the park across the road, thinking I could I could at least secretly conceal myself among some shrubs to throw up. Yet I must have lost consciousness. I could feel my body but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I started dragging myself toward the grassy area.

“You right, love?”

Right then, I was lifted up. There was a strong arm supporting me and heard a man say, “Everything alright, love?” I managed to tell the unknown man that I had to to vomit. So he virtually helped me walk into an adjacent building and placed me in the ladies’ toilets. He inquired whether I required him to stay with me but I declined.

A few minutes later, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the restroom floor and from the other side of the door came his voice asking, “Are you OK, love? Can I get you something?” I could not to stand up right away but I was able to thank him and after a few more minutes regained the function of my feet. I returned home and spent the following days healing from what turned out to be a severe stomach virus.

I never glimpsed the stranger’s face – just his lower half and a large steelwork tools container he was carrying – but he helped me, during a time when I was at my most vulnerable.

Many times, life tends to make people defensive, aggressive and competitive. What he did was the kind of action that melts away that emotional callousness. He was proof that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, something I love in other people.