Lisa Hall was abused for parking in a disabled parking bay, despite the fact she has a disability, and a disabled parking permit. Picture: Brendan Francis
A PREGNANT Melbourne woman with a rare condition that affects her mobility has spoken out after being abused for parking in a disabled spot despite having her permit displayed.
Lisa Hall, from Ferntree Gully in the city’s east, has complex regional pain syndrome, which developed after a work accident about 10 years ago.
It affects her ability to walk. She often uses a walking stick or a wheelchair, and she likened it to multiple sclerosis.
Ms Hall parked in a space for people with disabilities at Westfield Knox on November 13 when a woman said “people like you make me sick” and she was asked why she was parked in a “wheelchair” spot because she didn’t have a mobility aid.
“So I turned around to her quite nicely and said ‘because I have a disability sticker’,” Ms Hall said.
“And she said ‘I don’t care, you’re not in wheelchair’.”
Ms Hall, who is six months’ pregnant and was with her two-year-old son Jordan at the time, said she lost her cool “and spoke a profanity I am not proud of”.
“I just couldn’t understand how someone could be so naive, especially when there had been (items in the paper and on TV) talking about this very thing — that disabled parks aren’t (just for people) with wheelchairs, they’re for disabled people,” Ms Hall said.
“You can’t see I might not be able to feel my feet, or that I’m in pain.”
Ms Hall can’t take her pain medication while she is pregnant and tries not to use mobility aids, but some days she can barely walk and spends considerable time bedridden.
Ms Hall contacted the Knox Leader after the incident, in the hope that raising awareness may change peoples’ ideas of what disabilities and illnesses look like.
Craig Wallace, president of advocacy group People With a Disability Australia, condemned the abuse.
Mr Wallace said some people did not understand that disabled parking spots were for people with limited mobility, not just people who used mobility aids such as wheelchairs.
“Some of the people who most need these parks are people that walk, but have very limited ability to do so, and being able to park close to shops or medical appointments, is actually part of what enables them to be mobile,” Mr Wallace said.
He said his organisation did not endorse “vigilante” behaviour around disabled parking.
“If someone is parking without a permit, take their number and details and report it to the authorities,” Mr Wallace said. “But there’s never an excuse for confronting a person and making those sorts of assumptions.”
