A sick mother was left a nasty note after using a disabled park. Photo / Thinkstock
A sick mother was left a nasty note after using a disabled park. Photo / Thinkstock
Without an official Blue Badge, UK woman Sarah Metcalfe was hesitant about parking in a disabled bay at her local supermarket.
However, she was in so much pain from a chronic condition that she felt she had little choice if she was to get round the York shop with her son.
Struggling back to her car though, nothing could have prepared her for the abusive note that was waiting on the windscreen - one so vicious that it made her 13-year-old son Jack cry
Written on paper featuring a pair of high-heeled shoes, it read: 'Being fat and ugly doesn't count as disabled - park elsewhere.'
Miss Metcalfe, 35 - who suffers from fibromyalgia, a condition that causes severe pain all over her body - is now trying to track down the note's 'cowardly' author.
Miss Metcalfe's fibromyalgia developed after she had a serious fall five years ago. She also has chronic fatigue syndrome which means she suffers muscle stiffness, tingling all over her arms and legs, dizziness and clumsiness
The mother-of-one, who is a PhD student at the University of York, admitted that she did not have a disabled badge as she is still going through the application process.
However, on the day in question she was in so much pain she decided to use her judgment and park in the bays because they did not specify that a Blue Badge was required.
She said: 'I don't like to claim benefits, I like to just try and get on with it, but the pain was so bad on this occasion that I was forced to used a disabled bay to limit the walk.
Sarah Metcalfe came out from shopping at Tesco to find the note. Photo / AP
'There were around 40 disabled parking bays and most were free. I wouldn't have been able to go in if I hadn't used it - my ankles had become so weak that I was worried I'd go over on them.
'But I was enjoying a day out with my son so was determined to make it in. It was Jack who had to find the note.
'It floored him - he couldn't believe someone could say that but use a piece of paper to say it so there can be no comeback, it's just horrible.'
Miss Metcalfe said she believes the incident at a Tesco Extra store in Clifton Moor, York, highlights a lack of awareness that people have of different disabilities.
'Just because I'm not in a wheelchair doesn't mean I'm not disabled,' she said. 'I think the person who did this should come forward. I just want to talk to them about what it's like to live with a disability like this.
'I think they should have thought about the impact that writing this could have had on the wrong person.
'I consider myself quite a strong person, but this could have gone on someone's car who couldn't handle such nasty personal abuse.'
A Tesco spokesman said the supermarket was 'shocked' to hear about the incident and said the company tries hard to tackle discrimination.
He said: 'We ask that customers display a blue badge if they are parking in a disabled bay to prevent abuse of these essential spaces, but appreciate our Clifton Moor customer's concerns and would welcome her to talk to our colleagues in store.
'We will also report this incident to the car park owners.'
