A 19-year-old woman with epilepsy says she was ordered off a bus in Bath after the driver told her that a disability card entitling her to free travel was a "p*ss take".
Absolutely disgusting. The article I have linked above describes how a 19 year old girl was told that her condition was taking the piss, by a bus driver, who would not allow her on the bus unless she paid despite her having a bus pass. Another lady on the bus came to her defence, paying the fare for her.
Epilepsy is a serious neurological condition. Due to fitting, many people who have epilepsy are not allowed to drive. As such they are entitled to a free bus pass. They are totally dependent upon public transport or the good will of others.
What the bus driver thought of her condition should not be relevant to whether she is entitled to travel or not. The bus company says that their drivers receive disability awareness training. Obviously this bus driver paid little heed to it. He is obviously a man of low IQ; not only thinking that he is fit to judge who should have a bus pass, but knowing so little about epilepsy that he doesn't understand why she has the bus pass to start with.
The girl in the article is very grateful to the lady who paid for her fare, but she should not have to be. People with disabilities should not have to be grateful for being able to get along with their daily life. People who are fit and healthy are not, so why should we be?
I know this article is nothing to do with M.E., and only just connected with benefits, but I was so disgusted that I had to share it. I sincerely hopes the bus driver is at the very least reprimanded. Though I would take more pleasure in knowing that he lost his job and was replaced by someone with a disability.
It saddens and worries me at how much disability hate crime is on the increase.
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