A woman in Georgia began experiencing a medical episode in a mall. Thankfully, her service dog alerted her promptly, helping her push through the very difficult moment. However, an annoying man straight-up harassed the woman for bringing the animal to the mall.
The woman herself, Katie, shared the interaction on TikTok. She suffers from the Trifecta, or POTS, EDS, and MCAS, a combination of medical conditions that affect her cardiovascular system. For that reason, she has her service dog, Bailey, with her at all times.
During this particular medical episode, Bailey detected that something was wrong and immediately alerted Katie. The woman then sat down on the floor, and Bailey then lay on top of her to apply precise pressure to help blood flow, Katie detailed. She must remain still during her episode, or she will faint.
While Katie was petting Bailey, a random Georgia man approached her, saying, “Pretty sure you’re not supposed to bring animals to the mall. Just a thought.”
Katie, however, explained that Bailey was a service dog. The rude man said that she looked alright to him, but Katie told him she was having a medical episode at the time. She asked him to leave them alone, but the man insisted, “You’re not supposed to bring your pet into the department store. I don’t feel like everyone told you that.”
The man told Katie she was using Bailey as an excuse to bring him there. Meanwhile, sensing that her heart rate was not going down, the dog applied more pressure to Katie’s legs. The man was making things worse in every way possible.
“I wish I wasn’t disabled, but I am,” Katie told the nosy man.
A Gross Man, Reactions
In a follow-up video, Katie detailed that the Georgia man eventually left. However, 15 minutes later, with Katie still in the middle of her episode, the man returned. He told her he had spoken with the store’s manager about the dog, saying, “Go ahead and bring him into a different store.”
Katie ended up recovering for two days in the hospital, as she experienced a full episode. She mentioned how draining it is to have public episodes and that it is nobody’s business to question the legitimacy of her medical conditions.
Users, of course, were mad at the man. One said, “You explained WAY too much to that gross man.” Another one wrote, “Wow. Unacceptable. I’m so sorry.” A third one commented, “I’m so sorry this happened (and continues to happen).”
Hopefully, by sharing her story, many will learn that not all disabilities are visible. That way, people will stop being rude and start being empathetic to one another.
