‘Banned’ from site for having Tourette’s
A WOMAN with Tourette’s syndrome claims she has been banned from visiting a Gwynedd caravan park for using abusive language.
Kate Marsh, 34, alleges she can no longer visit the Bryn Gloch site in Betws Garmon, Caernarfon, despite making it clear to management and staff she has the condition.
Miss Marsh, a care worker from Warrington, says she and her fiancé Nick have only used her parents’ caravan on a few occasions.
According to her parents, Kerry and Terry, the site’s owner, Eurig Jones, told them their daughter will not be welcome if she swears and that he denied she was banned.
Mrs Marsh said: “I was with my husband on the site over the bank holiday weekend and we were about to go out for the day.
“We popped in to the office on our way to discuss renewing the pitch for next year, but we were told it wasn’t possible.
“Eurig told us he’d been meaning to have a word with us about our daughter and said he’d received a complaint about her abusive language.
“When we first arrived on the site in October last year, we did tell them that Kate and her fiancé would be visiting the site on occasion and we made them aware that she has Tourette’s.
“There didn’t seem to be a problem at the time but he told us on Saturday that she can’t be on the site if she’s going to abuse people.
“Kate has never been deliberately abusive to anyone in her life. She has a disability and she can’t help the things she says. “He just kept saying that she wasn’t banned, but she couldn’t come to the site if she was going to use bad language.
“Unfortunately, Kate can’t leave her tics at the gate and she does make every effort to apologise to people when she does have tics as she doesn’t want to offend anyone.
“Her outbursts aren’t directed at anybody, it’s just her brain making her say things that she can’t control.
“I’m so upset for her because the condition can be very tiring and draining and she used to enjoy coming here for a bit of respite, to go walking with no-one around, but it’s been ruined by uneducated idiots.”
The couple have now removed their caravan from the site and say the incident has left the family feeling “devastated” and “uncomfortable”.
According to them, they are now considering taking legal action against the owner.
Miss Marsh, who was also asked to leave Costa in Porthmadog in May last year after an involuntary outburst, said she was frustrated people were not more understanding about her condition.
She said: “I really looked forward to going there on holiday and it’s like a slap in the face.
“I’m being blamed for something that I have no control over and I’ve really had enough.
“There’s no need to be treated that way. My stress-free getaway has been taken away from me.
“I wish for one day the world could experience Tourette’s and see how hard it really is.”
Mr Jones declined to comment.