COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (WCMH) – A trip to a Colorado Springs Lowe’s culminated with a nasty note left on the windshield of a disabled veteran.
Catherine Rodriquez suffers from debilitating seizures after an incident four years ago while she was serving in the military.
“I ended up with anaphylactic shock, and the lack of oxygen caused me to have epilepsy that cannot be controlled with medication,” Rodriguez told KKTV. After several brain surgeries, Rodriguez now has a service dog and a parking placard so she can use parking spots for people with disabilities.
“I can be very difficult to get to the vehicle and I sometimes do not remember where we are parked,” she said. “I get lost in stores and stuff sometimes.”
After Rodriguez and her husband finished their shopping trip in Lowe’s, they returned to his truck and found a note stuck to the accessible parking sign.
“Sure don’t look or ‘act’ handicap! Don’t care what you think!” the note read.
While the note was upsetting, Rodriguez was able to find a silver lining. With the struggles she faces, she said she was almost glad someone thought she was “normal.”
“I thought it was kind of funny how people can judge just by how somebody looks whether they have a disability or not,” she said.
Maggie Sims from the Rocky Mountain Americans with Disabilities Center said that more people need to be aware of what are called “invisible injuries.”
“The person may have a major impairment in their life, but we don’t see it and we don’t see them in a wheelchair or with a cane, but the ADA would cover that,” Sims said. These invisible injuries can include heart problems, post-traumatic stress disorder, brain injuries and chronic pain.
“Not all disabilities are visible; you cannot see all of them, and some are definitely very internal – so never judge a book by its cover,” Rodriguez said. She also has some advice for someone who might have a question about a person’s disability: just ask.
“A lot of people would definitely be happy to answer your questions instead of just letting the stigma go on that ‘if you don’t look, therefore you don’t need,” she said.