Angry outburst last straw for disabled Jackie
A Cambuslang woman who suffers from a serious heart defect was verbally abused in the street for using a disabled parking bay.
Jackie Logan, 29, has three leaking valves and atrial fibrillation in her heart, resulting in increased, irregular heartbeats and as a result she is often left breathless.
She has also suffered from arthritis since the age of just two and has the condition lymphoedema, which results in her legs swelling up and causes her problems walking.
Jackie has a blue badge which allows her to park next to her place of employment in Halfway.
However, last week she was aggressively approached by a man who criticised her for parking there.
A shocked Jackie told the Reformer: “He knocked on the door of my shop and when I went out to speak to him he asked about the car parked out front.
“I said it was mine and he just started on me. He told me I wasn’t disabled, that I was breaking the law and that he would be reporting me.
“He kept saying that I looked awfully fit to be disabled and wouldn’t listen about my blue badge.
“He was there for about 10 minutes, just arguing with me. It was a really upsetting thing to happen and it’s quite intimidating when a man suddenly approaches you out of the blue and starts having a go.
“He was an older man and it made me feel really low, having to go through that.”
Jackie has had her heart defect since birth and believes that not enough people realise or accept that medical conditions are not always visible.
She continued: “I get breathless very quickly and the lymphoedema means that my legs are absolutely killing me by the end of the day.
“You don’t just send away for a blue badge and automatically get one. I’ve had to go through various assessments to qualify for it.
“It isn’t the first time this has happened but this latest episode is the angriest I’ve encountered.
“I am trying my best to deal with everything and going to work and it’s really upsetting.
“I’m tired of having to fight these unnecessary battles.”
Philippa Hobson, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: “Heart and circulatory conditions affect more than seven million people in the UK and these conditions can have a major impact on a person’s health and their wider life.
“For example, a person with severe heart failure may struggle to walk even a short distance.
“There are many heart conditions that people may have that aren’t immediately obvious from looking at them.”
It’s really upsetting. I’m tired of having to fight these unnecessary battles.