Prosthetic leg user gets note saying she should 'be ashamed'

HALIFAX -- A Nova Scotia woman who uses a prosthetic leg is taking a harshly written note with a bit of pride, the CBC reports. 

Natasha Hope-Simpson lost her left leg after a hit-and-run driver crushed her limb. The woman told the CBC that wearing a prosthetic was difficult at first, but she eventually grew used to it, even perfecting her walk without a limp.

In fact, she told the CBC, she walks so well that most can't even tell she's wearing a prosthetic. And this drew the ire of one of Hope-Simpson's neighbors.

The neighbor saw her park in a disability parking spot. Though she has a Canada-issued disability parking permit, the neighbor thought she was moving so well, she must be someone tricking the system. Someone who didn't need a disability pass.

So the neighbor wrote a note.

"I have a video of you walking away from your car on numerous occasions, you are not handicapped!!" the note read. "The next time you park here I will forward the videos to police with your license plate number. You should be ashamed of yourself."

Hope-Simpson sort of chuckled at the note.

"I'm kind of flattered about that, because I've been working pretty hard on my walk to make it look natural," she told the CBC.

But Tova Sherman, an advocate for people with disabilities, says the not is no laughing matter.

"It's really none of our business whether they run out of the car, or crawl out of the car," she said. "Great example is people who live with fibromyalgia -- chronic pain -- it is episodic, meaning it comes and goes."

Hope-Simpson has wears a special "Steampunk" style prosthetic, designed by Alleles Design Studio.