I instantly came across a story with a very similar nature, which was reported by university fox:
This teen found a blaming note on her windshield after rightful parking in a disabled spot.
Getting dressed upYasmin Swift is a 19-year-old hairdresser from England in the UK. She had gotten all dressed up for a fun night with one of her friends at a local pub and had a great time. Yasmin had left her car near the pub and went back the next morning to get it. She was feeling great about life thanks to the wonderful night she had with her friend, but soon that euphoria would turn to despair when she saw what someone had left on her car.
Passive aggressiveMore and more people choose to leave passive aggressive notes for others instead of speaking to them directly. Some stranger had left a note on Yasmin’s car declaring that she wasn’t allowed to park her car in a disabled spot because she wasn’t disabled. The note writer said they would inform the authorities about Yasmin’s parking, assuming she wasn’t entitled to park there. Yasmin had good reason to park in that spot, and the note left her feeling upset about this stranger’s judgment.
Sharing her storyShe was very upset about the note and took to her social media profile to express her shock. Yasmin noted that the person who wrote this message was ignorant and cowardly for anonymously leaving it. Perhaps if this person had instead approached her, they would have discovered that Yasmin was very much entitled to park her car there, but that’s not what they did. Yasmin remarked that if they had seen what she had been through over the past few months they would have thought differently.
A reason for parking thereYasmin did have a valid reason for parking in the disabled spot. Even though on the outside she appears to be a normal teenager, her health began to take a turn for the worse. She had recently graduated from high school and just started a job working at a hair salon. Soon her legs began to swell as well as her stomach and eyes. This was the start of something that would change her life forever.
Needing a doctorAt first, Yasmin believed she was just suffering from allergies, or something similar, but it soon became clear this was not what she first thought. She took over the counter medication to try and stop the symptoms, but that was not working, and she did not get any better. After some time she took her mom’s advice and visited a doctor who thought she was exhausted and told her to take time to chill out and relax. Yasmin stayed home for a while, but that only made her condition worse.
Getting worseNormally rest is good for bad health but Yasmin’s symptoms just kept getting worse. Although she had lived a pretty healthy lifestyle, even heading to the gym five times a week, she was struggling to just move around her home. Her breathing became difficult, and over time her health would keep deteriorating. It was clear that it was neither exhaustion of allergies but something else, and it was time to try and find out what that was.
Mom’s fearsAfter suffering from these ill-effects, Yasmin had given up exercising but her weight kept dropping. Her appetite was gone, and her skin was turning pale. These negative symptoms left her mental state quite low, and it was made worse because she didn’t know what was happening to her. Yasmin’s mom was beginning to worry about her daughter, and she feared that she might lose her if something couldn’t be done about her deteriorating health.
Regular visitsIt wasn’t long before Yasmin was making regular visits to her local hospital’s emergency room. Soon the hospital staff got to know her by name, as well as getting to know all of her friends and family members. They continued to do tests on her but each time they would come back clear, giving no indication that anything serious was wrong. There were no answers for what was happening to Yasmin and for a brief moment she wondered whether she was just imagining it all.
A diagnosisAfter a whole year, finally Yasmin was given a diagnosis. After undergoing countless testing, her doctors had finally figured out what was wrong with her. Yasmin suffered from idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension, which is a rare condition that affects the lungs and there is no known cause of the disease. It is a life-shortening condition and those who suffer from it regularly experience tiredness and short breath, while others blackout. Yasmin was now seriously ill and to make things worse, there was no cure for her condition.
Her condition
The condition was going to be with Yasmin for as long as she would live. Her condition would cause her to have high blood pressure in her arteries which is incredibly dangerous as it leads to very serious heart and lung problems over time. This was the reason why she had been feeling so fatigued, and others who suffered from the condition were suffering from blackouts. There is no known cause of the disease, so there’s no way to prevent it.
Knowing was important
For what seemed like the longest time, Yasmin was ignorant of her condition but now she knew all about it. There was some relief in knowing what she was dealing with and that she hadn’t been imagining things, as she had once feared. Although she knew what she was dealing with, that gave her little comfort with the reality she faced; living with the condition each and every day for the rest of her life. Not only did she have to deal with the symptoms but also the treatment.
Permanently medicated
Her condition required her to have an intravenous drip attached to her chest permanently. The drip is then connected to a pump which helps circulate the medication around her body, stopping her heart from having to work too hard. Yasmin had to learn to cope with this daily ritual and endure the uncomfortable procedure to help her body fight off the ill-effects of her disease. The bad news didn’t stop there for Yasmin, and unfortunately there was more.
Only expecting a short life
It is estimated that those who are born with Yasmin’s condition typically only live until they are around 17, but Yasmin had exceeded that already by two years. She had surpassed the doctor’s expectations and wouldn’t let her condition overcome or dictate the rest of her life. Yasmin was determined to continue her life as normally as she could, and she was getting on fine with life following her diagnosis. That was until she got to her car that morning and her positivity crashed.
The note hit her hard
It had been incredibly tough for Yasmin living with her condition. She had to accept her life was different now, but she tried her best to have as normal a life as she could. What she didn’t really need in her life was negativity from complete strangers, judging her for parking in a spot she was perfectly entitled to be in. She said that she often feels as though she needs to limp when getting out of her car to try and convince others she deserves her spot.
Addressing the culprit
It was pretty common for people to stare at Yasmin when she got out of her car, and it is something that she has gotten used. The note on her windshield was something new to her though and something she wasn’t really ready for. She addressed the anonymous person on her social media account directly and wanted them to know that just because she looked well didn’t mean she was. Yasmin wanted the person to know that she faces a daily battle just having the strength to wake up each day.
Not all disability is visible
She finished her passionate post by saying that not all disability is visible. Yasin commented that if the person who left the note would like to give her their lungs and heart, she would gladly go back to her old life. This person judged her just because on the face of things she appeared normal and Yasmin felt sick of having to prove to random people she was very unwell. She let the world know her frustrations and people were happy to give her their opinion about it all.
Going viral
Yamin’s passionate rant about the inconsiderate note touched many people, and she quickly had a huge response from social media users. The post has over 4,000 likes and 1,000 comments from people who all sympathize with Yasmin. People congratulated her for speaking up about her situation and others in the same position as her. Others told her to keep her chin up and ignore the naysayers. It was a moving level of support that no doubt gave Yasmin some comfort after receiving the judgmental note.
An overhaul to the system
Yasmin is not alone in having to deal with judgments from people who believe she and others like her don’t deserve their disabled parking spots. In a move to support those with hidden disabilities, the British government has moved to increase the number of disabled parking spots available across the country by around 44,000. It is hoped that more people will be able to park with access to places without undeserved judgment from others.
Overwhelming support
The support that came rolling in for Yasmin was overwhelming. Yasmin said that there were so may responses to her social media post that she isn’t even able to read through them all. She has scrolled through many of the posts trying to take as much of it in as she can and hopes that in the future her post will make people think twice before jumping to conclusions. Yasmin has become used to dealing with unjustified judgments and wants to speak for those without a voice.
Invisible disabilities
It is actually more common than you might think for people to live with chronic conditions; one in two Americans are considered to have them but are not all registered disabled. 96 percent of those who are diagnosed with chronic conditions show no or little signs of being ill. Around ten percent of Americans suffer from invisible disabilities just like Yasmin, and they too have to deal with similar struggles. They both have to battle their bodies daily and deal with discrimination which makes normality tough for them.
Helping hands
Thankfully for Yasmin, she isn’t going through her condition alone. She is supported by a loving network of both friends and family. Her mom and sister give her constant support, and that is something that Yasmin knows she won’t ever take for granted. She is grateful for their support and presence in her life, and she believes they have made her life worth living. Yasmin’s sister Nicole wanted to take her support to the next level, and she did something incredibly special for her.
Wanting people to think
Although she suffered heartache after receiving the insensitive note on her car, there was something she could take from the whole experience. The outpouring of support she received on social media showed her that people were sympathetic to her problem of having an invisible disability. Yasmin wanted people to think twice before they judged somebody, to save the upset she suffered happening to somebody else. The entire incident also helped her to raise awareness for her condition and raise enough money to help out a charity too.
Expert opinion
Not intimidated
The intimidating note left for Yasmin on her car would not deter her from living her life. She has a positive outlook on life, and she wasn’t going to let this negative note drag her down. Yasmin knows that her life might end prematurely so instead of fixating on negativity she prefers to waste no time on such things and maintains a positive spirit. Yasmin’s experience is a lesson for many people not to judge people by their appearances, we don’t know what internal struggles strangers are dealing with.
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