Roger-Luc Chayer
« Ostia crosseur, cuckold fraudster, you’re not disabled my dirty, I’ll call the police and you’ll have a ticket to occupy a disabled area, your sticker is a fake … », This is how Axel was treated when he had just taken a seat in his vehicle, returning from a race at the Village.
But before talking about his aggression, let’s talk about Axel a bit do you want? No, Axel does not use a wheelchair or crutches to walk, he has a disabling form of osteoarthritis due to a condition called Hemochromatosis, a condition that causes iron to build up in his system. Over the years, hemochromatosis attacks the joints in general and in the long run, a widespread form of osteoarthritis or erosion of the cartilages sets in, causing severe pain and inflammation. Recently Axel has also been diagnosed with Chronic Gout, which, unlike the classic Gout Crisis, is manifested as a form of arthritis affecting all joints, particularly those of her legs and feet.
That’s not all! A fan of the scooter, Axel was injured in 1988 on the road, resulting in the removal of a lumbar intervertebral disc and damage to the vertebrae of the neck, including compression of the spinal cord in two places. In short, although perfectly independent, Axel must limit distances when walking in order to avoid causing intense pain. That is why, in agreement with his rheumatologist and a doctor of the SAAQ (Société de l ‘Assurance Automobile du Québec), he asked if a vignette for people with reduced mobility could allow him to limit the distances between his parking and the places where he must move like the spa, the grocery store or at friends’ homes.
At the end of May, Axel was just coming back from a visit to a Village business when, feeling spied on, he observed a man of sixty who gave him an aggressive look on the other side of Plessis Street. . Continuing his journey, the man began to follow him in the alley between the streets Plessis and Alexandre-de-Sève at Habitations Ste-Brigitte. Once Axel returned in his vehicle, the man stood in front of him, iron bar in hand gesturing and pointing the parking reserved for disabled people. Axel opened his window to better hear what the man was shouting and it was at that moment that he realized that he was verbally attacked by the individual who considered that he did not look disabled, so he was a fraudster, shouting his hatred for everyone around to hear. In addition to assaulting him, the man was threatening him with an iron bar, not to mention having followed him, which constitutes criminal harassment. The man finally entered his home in the HLM Ste-Brigitte.
Axel has reported the situation to the police station 22, who would like to talk to him elsewhere, but this whole affair causes deep sadness to Axel, who considers that he was persecuted on the basis of his appearance, not his reality. « Thumbnails are there to meet special needs and I do not intend to start crooked to please all the persecutors of this world, » says Axel, still very troubled by what happened, while he must regularly use this space reserved for his visits to the Village. « I hope that my attacker will read this text and realize that not everyone with mobility problems is in a wheelchair and that it is not his job to question and control people who have a sticker », ends Axel who intends to find the attacker at any cost!