Someone Had The Audacity To Harass This Amputee For Parking In The Disabled Spot But It's Her Response That's Going Viral

If you've never heard of her, 28-year-old Jessica Long is a decorated and accomplished swimmer who has won one gold, three silver, and two bronze medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio. The Baltimore, Maryland native has won a total of 26 Paralympic medals and has held many world records.

Because of fibular hemimelia, her lower legs were amputated when she was 18 months old, and yet, despite everything this incredible athlete has accomplished, she hasn't been free from the criticism that disabled individuals face on a daily basis. Recently, Jessica turned to TikTok to share a frustrating experience and her incredible response.

In the now totally viral TikTok video, Jessica says:

“So, it just happened again. I was parking my car — and I hope she sees this — this woman just had the nerve to look me up and down, disgusted that I parked in the handicapped spot...”jessicatatianalong

On Instagram, she elaborated:

“I get two to four comments per week, just going about my normal routine and parking in handicap spaces. I’ve had people yell at me, leave notes on my windshield, knock on my car window, or wait for me to get out of my car just to tell me I can’t park there. My worst experience to date was an older couple that followed me around a grocery store and kept making comments because they wanted the handicap spot I took and said that I didn’t need it. I even explained that I had two prosthetic legs, and they told me I was a liar.”

After being heckled by a stranger, Jessica turned to TikTok to vent and encourage others about a different way to approach people parking in handicapped spaces: BE KIND.

It all started when someone told Jessica she shouldn't park in the handicapped parking spot.

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In an interview with Buzzfeed, Jessica talked about how she was born without legs:

“I was missing my fibula bones and several other bones in my lower legs.”

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She added:

“I did have a little foot with three toes on each leg.”jessicatatianalong

“My adoptive parents had those amputated when I was 18 months old so I could be fitted with prosthetic legs and learn to walk.”

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Jessica is a 14x Paralympic Champion!

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She first began swimming at the age of 10... in her grandparents' pool!

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She was only 12 when she became the youngest member of the US Paralympics team...

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She made her debut at the Athens 2004 Games, where she won 3 gold medals!

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Jessica said:

“If I can do it with the challenges I face, you can too. What I don’t like is people commenting on how ‘inspiring’ I am for doing normal daily tasks like grocery shopping, getting coffee, or taking a walk. THAT is not inspiring. People can be inspired by my work ethic, career, healthy lifestyle, or positive attitude, but not by me living my normal life.”jessicatatianalong

Jessica has said that her consistent reaction to people behaving this way is sincere hurt:

“I get it; I don’t ‘look’ handicapped, but what does that even mean?! I’ve been through more surgeries than I can count. My whole life, I’ve had to adapt. I rely on my handicap pass.”jessicatatianalong

“Every day is different… some days my legs don’t hurt as badly, but for the most part, they cause me pain.”

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“So, when I park in a handicapped spot, I actually need it. There are some people who will abuse handicap parking, but mostly I believe people need it.”

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Jessica has almost 100k followers on Instagram and over 1 million followers on TikTok. You could easily argue that she is helping to reshape the way society sees disabled people.

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She says:

“I think people are afraid to ask questions because society says it’s rude, but a lot of times that translates to shame around the topic of disabilities.”jessicatatianalong

Adding:

“I absolutely love sharing my story and journey with the world. I hope to educate people on how amputees use their prosthetic legs. We make it look easy, and it’s a natural part of our everyday lives, but it’s also hard and can be painful.”jessicatatianalong

People from all walks of life have chimed in to speak up about Jessica's experience and response.

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To date, the original video has over 1 million likes and over 18k comments.

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The original video has also been shared over 4,100 times.

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Disability support and social awareness and justice have been making huge strides in the last few years, but there is still a lot of work to be done.

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Jessica's experience is not unique, but being in the position she is and having the platform she has, she is able to initiate this important discussion and amplify it.

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Clearly, these conversations ought to be happening.

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