Mother slams elderly driver who accuses her of faking

Mother slams elderly driver who accuses her of faking

A mother-of-two who suffers from more than five chronic illnesses has claimed she was left a note on her windscreen accused of her of faking a disability for a free parking badge.

Laura Press was shopping in Asda in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, with her daughters when she returned to her vehicle and found a note which read: 'Your badge number has been taken'.

Mrs Press, who was left 'mortified' by the note, later spoke to an Asda manager, who checked CCTV and discovered the person who left the note was an elderly man. 

Laura Press was shopping in Asda in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, with her daughters when she returned to her vehicle and found a note which read: 'Your badge number has been taken'

Mrs Press, pictured with her daughters Melody and Amber and her husband Oliver, has criticised the man for his note

The 31-year-old has now criticised the man for leaving the note and is aiming to raise awareness for severe diseases which can't necessarily be seen.

She suffers from bile acid malabsorption - which mirrors Crohn's disease - spontaneous, pressure-triggered and chronic idiopathic urticarias and random anaphylaxis and angioedema. 

She said: 'I wish people would think beyond the fact I don't have a wheelchair or walking stick, but they just think that you have just stolen a badge to get a better parking space.

'I only came out of hospital last Wednesday and this has made me even more angry.

'I have a lot of chronic illnesses which mean I need easy access to a toilet or t o be near other people. I even have to drive into my daughter's school and no other cars are allowed near.

'I have chronic idiopathic urticaria and chronic spontaneous urticaria, which means if I am gripping the wheel or if I hold my shopping bags for too long my hands will swell up.

'I also had to have a hysterectomy because of endometriosis and to prevent a womb prolapse.

'Due to this, I have been left with nerve damage and I have to take steroids, oxycodone hydrochloride and other medications every day, along with injections.

She said: 'I have chronic idiopathic urticaria and chronic spontaneous urticaria, which means if I am gripping the wheel or if I hold my shopping bags for too long my hands will swell up'

'Because of the bile acid malabsorption - in a nutshell the illness mirrors Crohn's disease - everything I eat is like a laxative. When I'm having a flare up, I can only have nutritional drinks and can't eat food.'

Her illnesses have taken up most of her 20s and now early 30s, but she has a supportive family who understand how to help her.

She added she 'shouldn't have to explain herself to anyone' and she even 'gets looks' when she uses a disabled toilet, forcing her to have to carry a badge round to prove her illnesses.

Mrs Press said: 'Just because I'm able to be at the park with my children doesn't mean I've not got pain. I actually have chronic pain due to the nerve damage from all the operations I've had.

Her illnesses have taken up most of her 20s and now early 30s, but she has a supportive family who understand how to help her

'Some days I can't even get out of the house because I'm that bad. I often have to cancel on people if I get out and luckily my friends understand.'  

A spokesperson from Disability Rights UK said: 'Disabled people have rights and entitlements arising from their disability or long-term health condition and not because they have a long cane, a wheelchair or some other visible sign of their condition.

'This elderly man is probably a regular shopper and I hope this person gets to talk to him at some point about her feelings, possibly with the store's help.'

An Asda spokesperson said: 'At Asda we recognise that not all disabilities are visible, which is why we launched an initiative to raise awareness of invisible illnesses in 2016. 

'We want all of our customers to feel comfortable shopping with us and hope that our on-going support will go some way towards helping people's understanding of this issue.'  

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