Student with Crohn's claims she was refused entry to disabled toilet because she 'doesn't look disabled'
04.08.2023 - 13:25
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
A student with Chron's disease is hoping to break the stigma of hidden disabilities after claiming she was refused entry to a disabled toilet because she 'does not look disabled'.
Molly Yau says she was asked whether she really had a disability at a bus station a security guard to unlock the disabled toilet. Molly, an engineering student, claims he told her she didn't 'look like the people that I let in here', forcing to justify right to use the facility.
The 21-year-old was diagnosed with Chron's in 2015 after becoming fatigued, losing weight, and passing large amounts of blood in her stools. The condition, where parts of the digestive system become inflamed, has left Molly with painful flare-ups despite trying a number of different forms of medication.
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“I was heading home a few weekends ago and I was at the bus station when I needed to use the toilet," Molly, from Aberdeenshire, said. “I approached the disabled toilet because the queues for the regular ones were really long. I only tend to use disabled toilets in an emergency.
“The toilet door was kept locked so I found a security guard and asked him to let me in. He said to me, ‘you don’t look like the people that I let in here’.
“I tried to tell him that I shouldn’t have to justify or explain myself, but he kept asking if I was disabled and telling me that I didn’t look disabled."
Molly said she had been experiencing symptoms of Crohn’s for her whole life but as she hit 13, she began to experience pain. Initially, doctors put it down to her diet but as her weight continued to plummet, she was referred for further tests.
Th 21-year-old recalled how she spent a lot of