During my 19 years old, my regular journey to work meant taking an packed public transport. It was perpetually full and invariably became completely full when I boarded.
On one specific day, I started experiencing incredibly sick as the bus lurched around every turn. I kept telling myself to persevere just a little longer so the bus could arrived at my stop, and then I could sprint quickly for the nearest washroom to be sick.
The bus was approaching the avenue close to the stop when it dawned on me I wasn’t going to make it. All of a sudden, it seemed a veil came over me. My vision turned hazy and muffled; like someone had cut the sound. I thought, “I will lose consciousness”.
Thankfully, I was positioned near the front on the bus, so I managed a couple of steps forward and asked the driver to stop, informing him that I was about to get ill. The driver opened the bus doors and I weakly exited out onto the street.
I was determined to avoid being sick in front of multiple lanes of cars, so I picked myself up and began attempting to stumble across to the park opposite the street, where I believed it would allow me to find some privacy near some foliage to vomit. Yet I apparently fainted. I could feel my body but walking was impossible and my vision was blurry, so I began crawling towards the grassy area.
“You right, love?”
Right then, someone picked me up. There was a strong arm supporting me and a man’s voice asked, “You right, love?” I explained to this unknown man that I required to be sick. So he virtually carried me into an adjacent building and guided me in the ladies’ toilets. He wanted to know if I needed him to remain with me but I declined.
After a short while, I regained my composure sufficiently to sit on the toilet when from beyond the door I heard him inquire, “Do you need anything, love? Do you need anything?” I was incapable to get up just then but I was able to express my gratitude and shortly thereafter was able to move my legs. I got myself home and spent the following days getting over which was a severe stomach virus.
I never glimpsed that man’s face – just his lower half along with a sizable metal toolbox he held – but he saved me, at a moment I was at my most vulnerable.
Often this world can make you self-protective, pushy, and rivalrous. His was the sort of gesture that undoes that hardening of the heart. He served as evidence that people’s natural inclination leans toward compassion, something I love in other people.
