Woman Asks If She's Wrong For Defiantly Taking Her Leg Off After Man Screamed At Her For Parking In Handicapped Spot

Dec 09, 2022 by apost team

Not every illness is visible, which is, unfortunately, something that not everyone remembers. This is what a 21-year-old woman found out when she encountered a stranger when she went to the store with her mom, boyfriend, sister and her sister’s girlfriend.

The woman went to Reddit in March 2022 to share her story. She opened up about how a drunk driver ran a stop light, cut off a semi-truck and crashed into her car about three years ago, resulting in the woman crashing into other cars, leaving her leg completely crushed. Her leg needed to be amputated, and there were several other injuries that occurred as well.

However, the woman has been very persistent in overcoming the difficulties thrown her way, as she was fortunate enough to get different issuance payouts to pay for a custom-made leg to use in place of the one that needed to be amputated. She also went to therapy to work past her PTSD. On top of that, she learned how to drive again, this time using her left foot. Needless to say, this 21-year-old has been through a lot.

So when she wanted to drive her family to the store, she didn’t think anything of it when she parked in a handicapped spot, especially since she has a handicapped sticker. However, another person at the store clearly had an issue with this and called her out for it.

The conversation grew slightly heated, and the woman did something pretty unexpected, leaving her to wonder if she handled the situation poorly.

In her Reddit post, the original poster (OP) talked about how she came to have an amputated leg following a horrific accident. She shared: “My car was mangled and my leg was crushed, completely destroyed, and it had to be amputated. I also lost a couple fingers (the tip of one and all of another). I'm also left with some gnarly scars that used to bother me but I'm learning to deal with them.”

Since then, OP has gotten a custom-made leg. She explained that it’s hard to tell that it’s fake from far away, especially if she is wearing pants and shoes, and some days her limp is not as bad as others.

One day, OP decided to drive herself, her mom, her boyfriend, her sister and her sister’s girlfriend to the store. “So, I drove us, and because of my injuries (in addition to my leg I also have chronic hip, neck and back pain, and some issues with my lungs from the time spent intubated in a medically-induced coma that led to pneumonia) I have a handicap placard for my car,” she said.

OP mentioned that walking sometimes tires her out, so getting to park in the handicapped spots is a huge help. “Today I did so and unknowingly took the space from someone who was circling back around for it,” she said. OP explained that she didn’t cut the man off and had no idea he was even going for the spot.

Unfortunately, this was a huge issue for the man, and he had some choice words for the 21-year-old.

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OP said:

“He parked in the yellow stripe zone and got out and immediately began confronting me about stealing a space from people who actually need it, how I'm just some kid who has no respect for those who are truly sick and suffering. He then ordered me to move.”

Rather than give in to the man’s wishes, OP stood up for herself. “I'm sick of people thinking that just because I'm young that I don't have a legit need for a little extra consideration,” she explained. She continued, “I took my leg off.” She then showed it to the man, asking if it was OK if she parked there.

“He walked away calling me disgusting and rude and said I could have just told him and I made him look stupid,” OP said.

However, she embarrassed her group while doing so, making her wonder if her actions were wrong.

Fortunately for OP, many Reddit users were on her side. One user said: “That guy made himself look stupid. All you did was provide the visual aid.” Another added, “By embarrassing him you've probably saved the next disabled parker he was due to harass.” A different user said that the man clearly “needed a lesson” in learning that not every disability is visible or anyone’s business.

Another user said it didn’t make sense for the stranger to comment on OP’s situation in the first place: “I get the frustration of people with disabilities when someone takes one of those spots without needing it, but like you said you have a placard so idk why he would even question it. Just weird for someone to just have the confidence to question someone else's condition especially when they themselves suffer from one. You're definitely in the right.”

What would you have done if you were in this woman’s situation? Do you think she overreacted? Let us know, and be sure to pass this along to your family and friends.