A double amputee has opened up about the constant bullying she’s subjected to as she claimed she was scolded for leaving her car in a handicapped parking spot.
28-year-old Jessica Long from Baltimore, Maryland, is a Paralympic swimmer who had both of her legs amputated at the age of 18 months after being born with a birth defect known as fibular hemimelia.
While she learned how to use and live with prosthetics over time, Long still gets confronted by bullies who refuse to believe she’s an amputee.
Recalling a recent incident, the Paralympic contestant, who won a total of 23 medals including 13 gold medals, Long explained how she was accosted and yelled at by a woman after parking in a parking spot for the disabled.
“So, it just happened again. I was parking my car — and I hope she sees this — this woman just has the nerve to look me up and down disgusted that I parked in the handicapped spot,” she said in her viral TikTok video.
As Long revealed, she was then forced to explain to the woman who had confronted her that she is allowed to park there because she has no legs.
“She just kind of rolled down her window and proceeded to be like, ‘You shouldn’t park there.’ I was just like, ‘Okay, I’m an amputee. I don’t have legs,’” the 28-year-old added.
“That’s why I’m parked in the handicapped [spot]. That’s why I have the handicapped pass. And she kind of just drove off.”
According to the gold medalist, this wasn’t an isolated issue and she nowadays gets picked on a lot more than she did when she was a child.
“I was never bullied as a kid and I didn’t know that I was going to be bullied by adults because I park in handicap,” she added.
“And I get it. I’m young, I’m athletic, but I’m also missing legs! And I know I make it look easy, but it’s still really hard. My legs are heavy, they hurt me. I’m in pain.”
Urging the viewers to “be kind” to people who park in handicapped spaces, Long finished her video by suggesting that those who pretend to be “the handicapped police” should mind their own business.
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