Naomi Griffiths has been accused of stealing parking spaces but says she needs one as much as anyone else
Originally Publish Neil Shaw
A hotel manager says she gets accused of ‘stealing all the disabled spaces’ – as people suggest she is being ‘lazy’ by claiming a blue badge for her endometriosis. Naomi Griffiths applied for her blue badge in October last year after the disease caused her continuous mobility issues and a lack of control of when she needs to use the toilet.
And after spending four hours filling out the detailed £10 form on the council website as well as attending an assessment day, her disabled badge application was approved. The 24-year-old says her endometriosis causes her extreme pain every day, which feels like someone is ‘stabbing her in the lower abdomen’ or her stomach is being ‘poked with barbed wire’.
By having a blue badge, the hotel assistant manager says it will help relieve some of her symptoms by allowing her to park closer to shops and use disabled toilets. But after sharing her news on TikTok, users were quick to question her eligibility and why she needed one.
Others also claimed there would be ‘no disabled spaces left’ for disabled people if everyone with her condition applied for one. Some users bemoaned that because she might not need it every day as her condition is ‘intermittent’, it would mean she could use it some days just to be ‘lazy’.
Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus, which can cause severe pain in the pelvis and make it harder to get pregnant. Naomi, from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, said: “I applied for a Blue disabled badge because 60% of the time my mobility is limited.
“Walking across a car park can seem fine for some people but when I also have to walk around the shop, if I can just spare myself a little bit of pain and park closer to the shop, it just helps. Sometimes I have to use a wheelchair in the shops as I can’t physically get myself around [due to the pain].
“Due to my bowel being obstructed [as it was fused to my uterus] one of my main symptoms of endometriosis is the way it affects me going to the toilet and these symptoms won’t really go away as this area has already been affected. Sometimes I don’t go to the toilet for days but sometimes I can’t control my bowels at all.
“[Also, with my toilet needs] if I need to go, I need to go and I can’t hold this at all. Even if I try to, it causes more pain. So if I can park as close as possible to the toilet or use a disabled toilet [this will obviously help].
“The pain is pretty much constant and it worsens on my period. The best way to describe the pain is like someone has stabbed you in the lower abdomen and they keep the knife in you or like you have barbed wire in your stomach and someone is poking you.
“People are always going to have something to say and people have done on TikTok. I don’t think I’m stealing anyone’s space.
“It’s hard to compare people’s illnesses and I don’t think anyone should look at someone in a wheelchair and look at me and believe that someone in a wheelchair suffers more pain than me because they don’t know me and they don’t know the person in the wheelchair. The council could have rejected my application and say that I didn’t qualify and that would have been fine. I don’t make the decisions they do.
“On my worst days, I can’t stop my life because of endometriosis. At the end of the day disabled car park spaces are on a first come first serve basis and the problem isn’t me.
“There needs to be more parking spaces but I can’t do anything about this. People shouldn’t be so quick to judge. You don’t know how my day was and I think people need to do their research before they label endometriosis as just a ‘painful period’.
“I wish it [the pain] only happened during my period and I didn’t have to deal with it every day. I wouldn’t wish endometriosis on my worst enemy.”
Naomi said she began experiencing painful periods and heavy blood loss aged 13 but wasn’t diagnosed with endometriosis until March 2021 – eight years later. Since her diagnosis she has undergone surgery to have her uterus and bowel separated and her tubes untied after access tissue ‘fused’ these two organs together.
Naomi said her blue badge arrived last week but she is yet to use it. And, whilst she feels she is deserving of a disability pass for her endometriosis, Naomi says she will only use it on her ‘worst days’.
Naomi said: “I don’t feel like I need to justify myself to anyone. For me I only intend to use my blue badge on my worst days. I wouldn’t have applied for the blue badge if I didn’t think I needed it.
“It took a long time to fill out and I’m not going to waste my time on something just for fun. I wish I could live life without it. It wasn’t a fun choice to make.”
Naomi is now encouraging other women with endometriosis to apply for a blue badge if they feel it would help relieve their symptoms.
Naomi said: “To women who have endometriosis, everyone’s case is different and I’ve spoken to girls with it that feel like they would benefit from a blue badge and spoken to other girls that have used one. It depends on your symptoms. Some people can carry on and have a normal life [with their symptoms] as it’s not affecting their organs and nerves.
“I think in the TikTok video, people took it as me saying everyone with endometriosis should have it [a blue badge] but it is a personal choice. If someone feels like they don’t need it they shouldn’t apply for it.
“In the video, I was trying to say, for girls with endometriosis, only if you have severe symptoms, you should apply for it. I don’t think everyone with endometriosis knows that they can.”
After sharing a post about her blue badge application on TikTok which racked up 11,000 likes and nearly 800 comments. Whilst other endometriosis sufferers questioned how they could apply for a blue badge, some said they had applied and been rejected.
One user said: “Never knew we could get one. Thank you!”
Another added: “Please can you tell us how you did this. What did you say?”
A third added: “I have stage four and couldn’t get one.”
And others were seen to criticise Naomi and claimed she was ‘taking other people’s disabled spaces’.
One user said: “Having a disability doesn’t mean you qualify for a blue badge. It’s a variable illness and you don’t always need that space.
“These woman getting blue badges for something that affects them 10% of the time is not necessary.
“Intermittent conditions shouldn’t sustain a need for a permanent solution such as a blue badge. My disease is constant, not just when I’m on my period.
“But miss girl over here could take a space even when she feels fine, just because she has it and is feeling lazy one day.”
Another added: “My one comment is please be mindful if you use a disabled space please consider if you are able to park in a ‘normal space and leave this wide space.”
To which Naomi replied: “Yeah of course I never said I was going to use it on the days I don’t need to.”
A third commented: “Sorry. It’s a condition not a disability. What about Endometriosis makes you physically disabled?”
A fourth said: “There won’t be any disabled spaces left by the time all these blue badges are handed out.”
A fifth ranted: “What isn’t a disability at this point, people are just being lazy.”
According to the Gov UK website, people who meet a certain criteria, such as being registered blind automatically receive a blue badge.
For others, they may be able to qualify for one if for example, they find it difficult to walk due to pain, breathlessness or the time it takes and the eligibility is up to your local council to decide.
According to the Endometriosis UK website, endometriosis should not automatically be seen as a disability and decisions will be made on individual circumstances as to whether a person meets the criteria of a disability.