The insulting note of the woman to Christchurch family with disabled son

A Christchurch father and his handicapped son were left angry and discouraged after a member of the public had written a filthy tone and had put this Sunday on their car windows.

Paul Francis had a nice day out in the Rangiora pool for his children, including the nine-year-old son Jack who has cerebral palsy, a muscular physical disability.

But when a woman saw Jack and his family running away to the pool after parking in a parking lot with a handicap, she decided to take matters into their own hands by leaving a "shame" note.

Paul told it Herald the whole experience was disheartening.

"We showed up around 9.30 and I helped Jack get out of the car, I placed the disabled parking sticker on the display and ran to the pool.

"When I walked into Jack with my two other children, I looked over my shoulder and saw a woman hovering by the car, she looked a bit annoyed but did not pay any attention to it.

I thought she might have been angry in the back of my mind because I parked where I was with my children. & # 39;

While Francis and Jack were sitting in the pool, the excited woman placed the note on the car window and left Jack a nasty surprise when he returned.

The note accused Paul of taking advantage of the mobility card.

"Maybe you have a mobility card, but its use is not real, ashamed," read the note.

Almost an hour and a half later, Jack returned to the car to go home. But before Paul left, Jack saw the letter on the car.

Paul and Jack were sitting together to read the note-the father of three frightened and Jack's confidence dented.

"Even though I have a permit to park there and I have the full right to park there as a caretaker of Jack, I was blown away by it", said Paul.

"He said," She's just an idiot, Dad, because she does not know. "But I said:" No, people assume and do not know anything about your disability. "

"Then he just went quiet and you could see him reflect on the actions and behavior of people and it brings his own limitation back to his mind after we just had fun in the pool, and that's when the disappointment comes in. What the woman he was brave, but it is cowardice in another sense.

"Jack struggles with his motor skills on his right side and we have had various mobility treatments.

"For the untrained eye, they would not see anything wrong with him until they shook his hand and realize that he has no strength in his arm."

This led the father to use social media to invite the woman to come forward so that he could educate her about various handicaps.

"Because of the nature of my son's disability, he becomes very tired after physical activity … like swimming … so that's why I parked where I did that," he wrote on social media.

& # 39; To the woman who left this … Shame on a cowardly attack that my son found on the windshield, you only made him sad and discouraged his trust in an already demanding state … and all because you assumed you thought you were doing the right thing, all you did was make yourself in the eyes of a nine-year-old boy who is disgusted by all the doctors' appointments and operations he has had.

"Here is a list of mistakes you have made to try to challenge my family's right to have a badge for a disability:

1. You assumed that the driver was not disabled
2. You supposed because there was no wheelchair, this gave you the right to challenge it.
3. Not all disabilities are obvious to the narrow eye.
4. Perhaps you assumed that I had parked in this bay because I had three children and I missed the bay of the young mother … maybe I do not think so. "

Paul has since asked the woman to make herself known in the hope that education will stop discrimination against people with disabilities.

"There are so many people with different circumstances that are not clear to everyone, but they need those disability permits.

"I do not want the woman to run, I just want her to understand that disabilities occur in all shapes and sizes."

According to the father of the three, the Rangiora pool has been a great help for Jack, who supported him in his constant physio and contacted them to offer their support after the incident.

"The management team accepts our Cerebral Palsy Society vouchers and we go out of their way to adapt Jack's swimming lessons to their needs."