More drama...
I took an Uber to The Dorchester hotel for lunch. The driver took me on a ‘joyride’ (circuitous route) veering towards Piccadilly and around Mayfair. We were getting further away from my destination and I began to question his motives. He probably thought I was a tourist in London and sought to pad his fare.
As we passed the restaurant's Park Lane entrance, he refused to stop curbside. He became agitated as I pleaded with him to take me closer to The Dorchester’s main entrance, around the curve. I cannot crutch very far and every meter counts.
He got hostile, halted abruptly in the middle of the road and shouted, “GET OUT YOU fkING BITCH, GET OUT! GET OUT!”. I started to panic as I was in the middle of the road, and didn’t want to remain in his car should he decide to drive off. I swung the car door open and screamed for help from Dorchester's porters.
He began to video me with his smartphone calling me crazy, mad, fking lady etc etc. I blanked out as I was focused on maneouvering myself out of his car without falling over.
He then got out of his car and rounded to my side when one of the hotel porters stopped him and tried to calm him down. Some shouting ensued. Cars behind us started to honk with impatience and tried to swerve around us. I crutched as fast as I possibly could away from oncoming traffic.
I made it safely to the entrance of the hotel, and managed to capture 2 photos. I was panicking and did not manage to video anything. By the time I got into the hotel, I began to shake and started sobbing uncontrollably. Dorchester’s Security Manager gave me the driver’s license plate and said he would call the police asap.
Not wanting to ruin my friends' London visit, I recomposed myself and joined them for lunch. The police arrived and took a statement. Towards the end of lunch, I felt moisture on the left side of my pants. I thought, in my state of shock, my trembling hands had spilled my drink. It was blood. I must have scraped myself against the door latch while balancing and scrambling out of the car in a mad frenzy.
This is a minor incident, but a crippled person should not be treated with so much insensitivity and discrimination. Forcing a disabled person to leave a car in the middle of the road is reckless endangerment. I cannot imagine what would have happened if he had sped off before I could alight properly or if a car from behind swerved around us in haste and runs me over.
It's ironic that I signed Uber's petition to overturn London's decision to suspend their license. I rely solely on Uber to ferry me safely to Kings College Hospital every day.
I cannot believe I've just become a target of unchecked verbal abuse, hostility and discrimination. There should be some shred of human decency left, somewhere.