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Double Amputee Paralympian Opens Up On Being Bullied For Using Handicap Parking Space
A Paralympic swimmer has spoken out about the moment a woman had a go at her for parking in a handicapped spot because she didn't realise she was disabled. Jessica Long, who is training for this year's Paralympics for the USA team, took to TikTok to call out the woman and said it is something that happens all the time.
"So, it just happened again," the 28-year-old from Baltimore, Maryland, in the US, said.
"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."
The viral video has been viewed over 4.4. million times.
She said: "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.
"That’s why I’m parked in the handicapped. That’s why I have the handicapped pass. And she kind of just drove off."
She said things like this happen to her regularly and complained that she gets bullied more as an adult than she did as a child.
She said: "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.
"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."
Jessica was born in Russia with a birth defect called fibular hemimilia.
Her biological mother, who was only 16, put her up for adoption out of fear she wouldn't be able to care for her because of her disability.
Her American parents adopted her when she was 13 months old.
She told Buzzfeed : "I was missing my fibula bones and several other bones in my lower legs. I did have a little foot with three toes on each leg."
She had both of her legs amputated so she could learn to walk with prosthetic legs.
But she still had to have more than 25 surgeries during her childhood.
Her life changed when she discovered her talent for swimming and was just 12 when she competed at her first Paralympics, winning three gold medals.
Since then, she has gone on to win 23 medals, including 13 golds and is training for this year's Paralympic Games in Tokyo. She added: "I get mean comments weekly. I've had so many notes left on my car.
"I've had people call me names, knock on my car window and wait for me to get out just to say I can't park there.
