All Chelaine McInroy wanted at Vernon鈥檚 Walmart on a Saturday afternoon stop was to get groceries.

What she got instead, McInroy says, was harassed, verbally assaulted, and spat in her face.

The Armstrong amputee was parking in a handicap spot with a valid parking pass when she says a man came 鈥渟torming over, screeching at me through my open window about how I clearly wasn鈥檛 disabled, that I was just faking it and taking the spot away from someone who truly needs it.鈥�

McInroy shared her story on a Vernon and area community forum page on Facebook.

鈥淗e then spat in my face and took off,鈥� said McInroy, 27, who lost her leg below her knee a few years ago.

The incident left McInroy shaken, but otherwise alright, though she now has to worry about exposure to COVID and other transmittable diseases after being spat upon with some of the spit landing in her eye.

鈥淎ll because I was sitting in my car, and this man couldn鈥檛 see my disability,鈥� said McInroy. 鈥淚 am lucky in that my disability is usually visible (although of course not obvious to this man as I was sitting in my car and the prosthetic was not visible to him), but there are tons of disabilities that aren鈥檛 visible.

鈥淭hat does not give anyone the right to harshly judge others, and it sure as hell is never OK to assault someone like that. Because that is what it is - assault.鈥�

McInroy filed a police report but believes nothing will come of the incident as she said security cameras didn鈥檛 catch anything, and she said she was in a state of shock at the audacity of the suspect that she didn鈥檛 get a good physical description of the man.

鈥淚 beg of you all, if you see something like that happen, step in and help. Or at the very least, take note of the details so hopefully, the person can later be held accountable,鈥� she said, adding that a few people 鈥渢urned a blind eye and walked away.鈥� 鈥淚ncidents like this are not as uncommon as you鈥檇 think. But they are so wrong, and if nobody ever does anything, it will continue to happen.

鈥淪o please, keep an open mind and know that there are a lot of things going on that you might not see or understand, but that does not give you the right to judge and act like that. And if you happen to witness a similar event, do something. The world needs more kindness, especially during these trying times.鈥�

McInroy says she has had a few people glare and/or say some nasty things over parking to her, but it鈥檚 never progressed to physical assault before. She says she has been physically assaulted in public before though due to her disability, just not over parking. She also has a service dog who鈥檚 been kicked twice before, two separate times.

Her story on Facebook, as of Sunday afternoon, had drawn more than 360 reactions and 120 comments.

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