Father furious at mobility pass ‘shame’ note
A North Canterbury father was incensed to find a note on his car criticising his use of a valid disability badge after a family outing to the swimming pool.
Paul Francis took his three children – 9-year-old Jack, who has cerebral palsy, twin sister Poppy, and 2-year-old Edie – to the Dudley Park Aquatic Centre in Rangiora on Sunday morning.
Francis said the twins got out of the car and as he was taking Edie out of the back he noticed a woman looking at them.
‘‘I always get the twins to stay on the path but they went running in to the pool – Jack actually finds it easier to run. If the woman had seen him walking perhaps she would have noticed him struggling more.’’
The family returned to the car after their swim only for the children to discover a note on the windscreen which read: ‘‘You may have a mobility card but today’s use of it was not genuine. Shame on you.’’
He posted the note online.
‘‘Jack just went really quiet when we found the note. It really knocked his confidence, which is the reason I decided to post it on social media.’’
The family has been targeted in the past, despite clearly displaying the permit.
Francis said until now he had tried to let it go.
‘‘People will probably say I should just rip up the note and get on with my life, and normally I would, but when I read ‘Shame on you’ I just thought: no, I’m going to speak up this time.’’
He has been overwhelmed by the response. Dudley Park had offered them a family pass, and had been nothing but amazing, he said. The number of other people sharing similar experiences had been incredible.
‘‘It’s just highlighted that there are so many people going through things like this every single day.’’
Jack’s mum, Tara Francis, said she was proud of how her husband had reacted, which was far calmer than she would have been. She was furious that the person who left the note had made so many assumptions.
‘‘What really hurts is that it was such a confidence-kicker for Jack. He thought the woman didn’t believe he was disabled.
‘‘Just because he doesn’t have a wheelchair doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a disability.’’
Jack suffered a brain haemorrhage when he was 14 weeks old, and has undergone several surgeries in his nine years, including the initial surgery for the brain bleed, tendon transfer surgery in his arm, and several rounds of botox to relax the nerves in his arm. He will need more surgery as he grows.
Jack’s parents go through a rigorous process in order to receive the permit. They also have to pay for it. ‘‘They don’t just give them out with a packet of cornflakes,’’ Tara Francis said.
‘‘And we only display it when Jack’s in the car with us.’’