A man who had his lower leg amputated after a road accident has shared the note a "legend" doctor penned on his behalf when his application to renew his blue badge was turned down.
Ben Perry, a traffic light technician and special constable, says he had been told by Worcestershire County Council he didn't qualify for the badge which allows motorists to use disabled parking bay and that he needed to supply more evidence of his disability.
He wrote on Twitter : "After an appointment with my doctor, he composed a letter for me… Please can we show some appreciation for this legend."
A screenshot of the note reads: "I was most surprised to be asked for a statement of fact regarding Ben's disability. I can assure you he has indeed had a traumatic amputation of his right lower leg in a road traffic accident.
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"This has left him severely debilitated with chronic phantom limb syndrome and perpetual pain in his stump which on some days allows him to be independently mobile and other days leaves him unable to walk independently.
"I would be grateful if you could take this into account when dealing with his requests for blue badges in the future.
"It is of course unlikely that this situation will change unless medical science allows us to re-grow a new leg for him. Kind regards."
The tweet quickly went viral, racking up more than 124,000 retweets, and Ben later added an update to say that common sense had prevailed and his application had been accepted, joking: "Whether social media has influenced the decision, I wouldn’t like to speculate!"
Thousands of comments were left on the post, with some branding the process "ridiculous", and Ben himself shared some replies which questioned if he was mobile enough not to need a blue badge.
In response, he explained: "I have encountered several comments like this which I can see both sides to.
"The reason for a blue badge is to enable a space to be more accessible. I need to open my door fully in order to swing my leg in and out. That is of course on days where I am able to be mobile.
"Some days I'm unable to walk at all or even wear my prosthesis which means that I am only able to get around with the use of a wheelchair. On these days, a blue badge is critical to maintaining my independence."
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “Worcestershire County Council made a request for further information on Mr Perry’s blue badge application, as we would with any application, in line with current, national Department for Transport guidelines.
“Mr Perry’s initial application was unfortunately rejected as the extra information we requested was not received in time
“However, after providing the further information, Mr Perry’s application has now been approved and his new blue badge should arrive with him in the post in the next few days.”
