Woman reveals brutal encounter over disabled parking spot

A woman has shared the moment a group of young girls threw soft-serve ice cream at her car after she parked in a disabled spot.

A young woman with “invisible illnesses” has shared the shocking moment a group of vigilante girls threw ice cream at her car for parking in a disabled car space.

Stephanie Kelly, from Sydney, was born with life-threatening heart conditions and a potassium wasting disorder that confined her to a wheelchair for years at a time.

A horror car crash in 2018 then left her stomach and intestines “paralysed”, causing her to be tube-fed for 16 hours a day.

So, while it’s not immediately obvious to strangers that Ms Kelly has a number of disabilities, she is entitled to and uses a disabled parking permit.

Ms Kelly says she has, on multiple occasions, been “judged, attacked, verbally abused or had (her) car damaged” for using one of the spots — including an encounter that ended with a group of teens hurling a McDonald’s soft serve at her car.

“They had their P-plates, they were probably 18, 19 maybe 20,” Ms Kelly, 27, explained in a recent TikTok video.

Ms Kelly says she has been targeted for using a disabled parking space. Picture: @stephkkelly/Instagram

“My disabled permit is on the dash. You can see it … It’s very hard to miss.

“They made a judgment in their heads that this couldn’t possibly be our pass … They looked at us with frowns, they were like ‘ugh that’s a disabled spot’ and then went into the McDonald’s drive-through which was right next to where we were parking.”

Ms Kelly said she believed their snide remark would be the end of the encounter, but the girls’ behaviour only ramped up when she went into the pharmacy to pick up her medication.

“First thing (her fiance) Adam noticed when we return is ice cream all over the front bonnet and front guard … they went through the McDonald’s drive-through, came back out and threw an entire soft serve cone onto our car,” she said.

“We never got to ask them why they did that. I wear clothes that cover everything [her medical devices] so I get that it looks like I’m not disabled and I’m parking there for the convenience, but just ask me.”

She often wears clothes that hide her disabilities. Picture: @stephkkelly/Instagram

In a recent incident, a group of strangers threw ice cream at her car for parking in a disabled spot. Picture: @stephkkelly/Instagram

Commenters shared their own stories dealing with confrontational strangers who refused to believe they had a disability.

“A friend of mine (early 20s) with cancer parked in a disable space, a lady came and complained about her parking there, my friend ripped off her wig,” one wrote of a horror incident.

“I had a lady legit stand in the middle of the bay and not let my husband park. Next minute I come out the car with my walking frame,” shared another.

One commenter said their husband had developed a strategy to manage the episodes — “a sign on both sides of his rear door window, (reading) ‘yes I can park here, not all disabilities are visible’.”

Ms Kelly was the first diagnosed case of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome at the Sydney Royal Children’s Hospital, she shared on a TikTok page documenting her illnesses.

She couldn’t stand up without fainting for years, while further diagnoses of heart complications including supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation as a young child meant she often needed a defibrillator.

Ms Kelly was studying to become a registered nurse in 2018, when another driver T-boned the passenger side of the car she was travelling in with her fiance.

Her resulting injuries “paralysed” her stomach and intestines, meaning they struggle to absorb nutrients correctly.