Mum who parked in disabled bay distraught over note on car: ‘Fat and ugly doesn’t make you disabled’

Sarah Metcalfe suffers from fibromyalgia, which causes pain all over her body and fatigue.

When she returned to her car, she was confronted with a note that read: “being fat and ugly doesn’t count as disabled (park else where).”

Student Sarah said that, while she may have appeared happy on the outside, she was still in severe pain.

“Both me and Jack [Sarah’s 13-year-old son] were devastated to find the note. I think they must have seen me leaving my car with a smile on my face,” she told the Metro.

“Yet I was just happy to be out with my son – but we were both left absolutely heartbroken to find the note, it left us both in tears. Then our hurt turned to anger.”

Sarah insists she doesn’t claim benefits but has applied for a disabled badge for when the pain is at its worst.

She continued: “Now that I’ve calmed down I would still like to speak to the cowardly person behind the note to explain how not all disabilities are visible.

“I wouldn’t have been able to go in if I hadn’t used [the disabled bay] – my ankles had become so weak that I was worried I’d go over on them. But I was enjoying a day out with my son so was determined to make it in.”