An 82-year-old woman who was denied a blue badge despite having an angina attack during her assessment is still battling with the council more than a year later.
Susan Self, of Girdwood Road in Southfields, came to the Wandsworth Guardian last May after the council decided she was not disabled enough.
The pensioner, a former school cook, suffers from coronary heart disease, angina attacks, partial blindness, deafness and Meniere’s disease - a condition that impedes balance.
Her daughter, Christine Walker, 60, said: “The whole family is bitter because she has never asked for anything in her life. She’s worked hard all her life and she’s not even allowed a blue badge.
“Look at the CCTV and watch my mum having an attack. Watch her suffering. What more proof do you need?”
Mrs Self was assessed at the Town Hall in November 2008 under the advice of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
It took her 40 minutes to walk the short distance from Sainsbury’s carpark with the help of her husband, Freddy, 82, as her balance problem often causes her to fall.
Despite showing the occupational therapist doctors’ notes describing her ailments, she received a letter several weeks later stating she had sufficient mobility.
Her husband often drives her to hospital appointments, but without a blue badge, is always forced to park far away from the entrance.
Mrs Walker has campaigned for 14 months to overturn the decision, but the council have refused without reassessing Mrs Self - something the family fear could bring on another angina attack.
Mrs Walker said: “It’s just a face-saving exercise. I would have thought more of them if they had just said sorry.”
A council spokesman said: "In order to qualify for a blue badge, an applicant must have a degree of disability and find it difficult to walk. Fortunately Mrs Self does not have any such problems.
"We recently offered to carry out a further assessment of Mrs Self, at her own home, to ensure that the decision we took was the right one. However this offer has been refused.”
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