Vile busybody left ‘you are not disabled’ note and scratched car of mum whose son has life-threatening heart condition
Samantha Dunlop, 25, was accused of pretending to be disabled as she parked at Weymouth beach with her nine-year-old boy who suffers with pulmonary atresia
A BUSYBODY left a vile note on the car of a mum whose son has a life-threatening heart condition.
Samantha Dunlop was accused of pretending to be disabled as she parked at Weymouth beach with her nine-year-old boy Liam who suffers with pulmonary atresia.
The 25-year-old was also stunned to find her car had been scratched by the cruel stranger.
She had left her white mobility car on double yellow lines to get Liam - who has an irregularly fast heartbeat - down to the sand.
The pair returned to the vehicle to find a large scratch and a note saying: "You are not disabled."
Cops are now investigating and treating the incident as a hate crime.
Liam, who has been in and out of hospital for most of his short life, is entitled to a blue badge for the disabled.
Vehicles displaying blue badges are able to park on double yellow lines for up to three hours, if safe to do so.
The note said: "You are not disabled I am. You should not pretend to be disabled just so you can park your car!! I have u on camera."
Miss Dunlop, a hairdresser, says her son had to apply for a blue badge and they also went through an application process to receive a mobility car from the DVLA.
She added that it wasn’t the first time the pair had been victimised and dubbed the attack "horrible".
She said: "Liam doesn’t have a wheelchair – so people must have seen us getting out of the car and thought, he doesn’t look disabled. They put two and two together and must have thought we were lying and cheating.
"My son looks fine, but people don’t see what’s happening on the inside, unless he was to walk around with his top off.
"He will have to have surgery and live with his heart condition for the rest of his life.
"I’ve had people shouting at me and this is a daily occurrence for us.
"To have a terrible note telling us we’re not disabled, so we shouldn’t be parked there, is horrible."
Work to fix the criminal damage is expected to cost around £100, however one kind-hearted garage owner did offer to do the work for free.
The incident left young Liam scared, shaking and crying, with his mother adding he felt on edge about where they were allowed to park.
His heart beats twice as often as a non-disabled person and he requires regular rests and water breaks.
Despite this, Samantha says she tries to encourage him to be as normal as possible, and has hit out at people who criticise them.
She said: "He gets upset that he can't run as much as his friends but both myself and his cardiologist encourage him to try and be as normal as possible.
"People will say something pretty much every time I park in a disabled space, even when I show them the blue badge.
"Just because you can't see a disability, it doesn't mean there isn't one there, but it just seems like a lot of people don't want to understand that."
Dorset Police have now launched an investigation to find those responsible.
MOST READ IN NEWS
Sergeant Dan Galloway, of Weymouth Police, said: "This incident has understandably left the victim very upset and we will not tolerate hate crimes of this nature.
"Enquiries are ongoing to identify those responsible, including a review of CCTV footage covering the area."
Earlier this year we reported how a teen with a serious lung condition was appalled when she found a cruel note on her car telling her “you’re not disabled”.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368. You can WhatsApp us on 07810 791 502. We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.