Teen with Disability Finds Anonymous Note on Windshield, Knows She Has To Share Its Message
Yasmin Swift is still a teenager, but she has already experienced more difficulty and adversity because of her health than most people could expect in their lifetime.
The 19-year-old lives in Ashford, Kent, which is a town 30 minutes south of Canterbury, England. Almost seven months ago, Swift received a diagnosis that would change her life forever.
After a year of experiencing an onslaught of dramatic health symptoms, Swift found out that she had idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs.
According to the Mayo Clinic, this health problem makes it harder for blood to flow through your lungs and raises pressure within the lungs’ arteries.
“The condition occurs spontaneously, has no known cause and has a life expectancy of up to 17 years with IV line medication therapy,” DailyMail added.
“It’s a life limiting illness,” Swift told Kent Live. “It gives me shortness of breath, tiredness, some people even black out and faint. When I first started getting symptoms, the main thing that I noticed was my legs swelling up, My stomach, my back, and my eyes also became really puffy and sore.”
Swift’s health issues were so serious, she was forced to take six months off of work just to learn how to cope with her many symptoms, DailyMail reported.
While her health is a struggle in and of itself, Swift was faced with another type of opposition recently in the form of a calloused handwritten note.
On July 19, Swift went to a pub in the town of Tenterden to spend time with a friend, and she parked her car in a handicap space upon arriving.
Despite having a blue handicapped parking badge displayed in the car, an unknown person decided to attack Swift verbally, leaving a nasty note that accused her of fabricating her illness.
“You are parked illegally. You are not disabled,” the note said. “I will inform authorities accordingly.”
While the words hurt Swift, she took this experience as an opportunity to educate people about the reality and difficulties facing people with invisible illnesses.
The morning after discovering the note, she posted a photo on Facebook and shared a bit about her experience.
“They judged me because I look ‘normal,’” she wrote. “Just because I look well doesn’t mean I am well … you have no idea what strength it takes to wake up each day and battle with my own body!”
Swift addressed the unknown author on Kent Live.
“If I could speak to you, the person that left the note, I would say, just please don’t judge,” Swift said. “Just because I’m not in a wheelchair or have a visible ailment, it doesn’t mean I’m not entitled to use a disabled space.”
Swift also shared personal details about her battle with idiopathic pulmonary hypertension, as well as the way that bullying and accusations can affect people who are struggling.
“I just hope that the post makes people think before they jump to such damaging conclusions,” Swift said.
“Something like that it could seriously affect someone with an invisible illness. It’s lucky I am how I am and it just kind of brushes past me, but to some people that note could have had a big effect on them.”
Since going viral, Swift’s story has garnered the attention of countless news and media outlets worldwide and has helped bring awareness to those struggling with invisible illnesses.
Liftable, a section of The Western Journal, has reached out to Yasmin Swift for comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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