Despair of disabled girl jeered at on the buses

Whenever Rachel* steps onto a bus and sits on a reserved seat, passengers around her mumble that she should be ashamed of herself for taking the place of an elderly or disabled person.

“These words hurt me because I was brought up with solid values... People need to be aware that just because you are young and look fit, it does not mean you are fit,” the young woman, who was born with a muscular disability, said.

Her condition got worse when she was involved in an accident in which she fractured several bones.

Rachel, in her 20s, suffers from chronic back pain and cannot stand up for long periods of time.

Looking at her, one would not realise she has a disability. Although most young women would see that as a plus, it often backfires.

“A few days ago, an elderly tourist was grumbling on the bus and, before she got off, she turned to me and said: ‘You’re taking the place of people who needs it. At that moment, I blushed and wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. I did not have time to explain. All I could say was: ‘I need it too’,” she said.

This recurring, embarrassing experience spurred Rachel to call The Times to try and raise awareness about the plight of people like her, those with an invisible disability.

Joe Camilleri, chairman of the National Commission Persons with Disability, said that having an impairment that was not evident was “a very real problem” experienced worldwide.

“When people can see the impairment they try to help. I know of people who have to shoo away help,” he said.

Rachel works part-time and catches a bus to and from work. She feels bus drivers need to be made more aware of what the yellow disability card means.

Some weeks ago, when all the bus seats were taken, she tried showing her yellow card to the driver but he ignored her. She later contacted public transport operator Arriva urging them to educate their drivers about the card. She stressed that the problem also existed under the old public transport system.

The next time, when the seats were taken again, she was too shy to show her card.

“I remained standing for the entire trip that lasted over an hour and then had to spend the next two days in bed because my back pain was so intense I could not move and had to take strong painkillers that knocked me out,” she said.

“Living with a disability is already tough and the last thing you need is people making it harder. There has to be more awareness. Someone who suffers from a disability need not necessarily look like he does,” she said, adding that there were are also those who were not disabled, such as the elderly or pregnant women, who might need to sit down on reserved seats.

Mr Camilleri said bus drivers were trained in disability awareness by Arriva. The commission has been asking to carry out the training itself since it feels it can offer the best training in the field.

*The name has been changed to protect the person’s identity who preferred remaining anonymous.