Disabled TikTok user goes viral after elderly woman questions his disability permit at Sydney McDonald’s

A TikTok user with a prosthetic leg has taken to social media to vent after a confrontation with an elderly woman at a Sydney Macca’s.

A disabled TikTok user has gone viral after posting about his confrontation with an elderly lady who questioned why he had a disability parking permit at a Sydney McDonald’s.

Paniora Nukunuku, who posts under the handle @pnuks, has a prosthetic leg and has said he uses the platform to create funny videos to encourage other amputees to have the confidence to “be yourself”.

The western Sydney man, who is in his 20s, took to social media in a series of posts to vent his frustration over the incident saying “old people” think they are the “disability police”.

Paniora Nukunuku vented on social media about the incident. Picture: @pnuks/TikTok

He filmed the woman he claimed asked him about the pass. Picture: @pnuks/TikTok

He claims the woman approached him as he parked in the carpark at Lakemba McDonald’s, knocked on his window and demanded to know if he owned the disability permit displayed in his windscreen.

“I have a disability card because I have a fake leg, right. Disabled, makes sense,” he says in one post.

“Obviously you can’t see my disability if I’m in the car. So please tell me why this old lady thought it would be a great idea to knock on my window and ask me if this (the permit) is mine or not.

“It’s not your business if we have this card. It is not your business. You are not the disability police.

“Even if someone doesn’t look old, doesn’t look ‘disabled enough’, if someone has this (he says holding up his permit) you shut your mouth and walk away.”

Mr Nukunuku shows his fake leg in the video. Picture: @pnuks/TikTok

In a subsequent post, which has gained more than 1.4 million views, Mr Nukunuku showed his verbal confrontation with the woman inside the restaurant.

He films himself showing his prosthetic before walking into the store and asking the woman why she approached him.

“Did you not approach me because I wasn’t disabled enough?’ he asks.

The woman responds: “I will tell you why. I’m asking you because I desperately need it. There have been times … please listen to me.

A seemingly angry Mr Nukunuku cuts her off saying, “I’ve got one leg and you come up to me asking if this card is mine?”

He filmed his conversation with the woman. Picture: @pnuks/TikTok

“I did and I have a right to,” the woman says.

Mr Nukunuku, however, does not accept that: “No you don’t have a right to. If the card is there, you don’t need to worry about it.

“There is a reason we have the card its so this doesn’t happen, so you don’t assume that someone isn’t disabled enough. Don’t ever do that again.”

Many users have praised Mr Nukunuku for standing up for himself, however some have criticised him for the way he spoke to the elderly woman.

Originally published as Disabled TikTok user goes viral after elderly woman questions his disability permit at Sydney McDonald’s