A disabled mum says she can't get a date because she is on benefits. Lynn McDermott, 48, insists men are not interested in meeting her with one even calling her a 'parasite' over her benefit claims.
The 48-year-old says she receives hundreds of messages from suitors on dating sites. However, the mum says that she is still yet to find love due to being unemployed, reports Wales Online.
Lynn claims that she has to hide her income source from to men whilst talking online otherwise things will get ugly. The mother says she gets the same reaction in person on dates as well when the topic of money is brought up.
Lynn said: "I get Universal Credit, disability allowance, and ESA [employment allowance] - I get the full whack because of my disability. But it’s not much.
“One guy told me I was a parasite. He said, 'You can walk and talk, why can’t you work?'
"I’m not financially able to take people out, but most of the men are divorcees who seem to think I'm after their money. I'm not looking for any kind of handout in any way, I'm looking for love and that’s all I want.
"I just want to be loved and to love someone else.” The mother was diagnosed with endocarditis, an infection of the inner lining of the heart, which can be fatal.
After finding out that she had the condition back in 2017, Lynn underwent a valve replacement. The ex-sales worker was then in a coma for six months and once regaining consciousness was back in hospital a month later.
The 48-year-old was then diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and found to be immunocompromised – meaning her body was unable to fight off infections and diseases. Due to her health conditions, Lynn receives Universal Credit, PIP (Personal Independence Payment) and ESA (Employment and Support Allowance).
The sums that she receives for both total to approximately £21,000 per year. Lynn said: “My disability is that I’ve got heart failure but you’d never know it to look at me.
"I’m put down as disabled and unable to work because of my disability – but no one would know this because I don’t have a leg chopped off or anything and I just carry on with my life.
"I had a PIP assessment and the paperwork with me with the issues I have - the heart failure and everything will not get better. If [men] ask me what I’ve done in my life they realised I’ve had a vast career, I’m driven and I think let’s see what I can do.
“I’d like to question why people on benefits are not fit to be on dating sites – these sites ask you how much you earn and what your job is, so I say approximately £21,000 is what I get in a year. I get loads of replies.
"I last went on Plenty of Fish six weeks ago and had 354 replies from people – they obviously like the look but they just don’t appreciate that I’m disabled and on benefits. I went out on a date with two of them and the first words are, ‘Are you a divorcee?’ and, ‘Do you own your own home?’
“A guy I recently dated asked on the second proper date about finances. "I said, ‘What’s that got to do with anything?’.
"He said he didn’t want someone sucking all his money away because he was loaded."
Lynn will sometimes quiz men about their perceptions of her. She added: “I’m an open book and that probably aggravates men because I will challenge it."
"I’ve had a couple of people say, 'Yes, everything you’re saying is right - but it’s still not for me' and I can accept that. What I don’t accept is that I’m undatable because I’m on benefits and people on benefits are no one, they’re scum.
“For me, I don’t know where this hatred of benefits comes from. All I want is trust, reliability, for them to love me as much as I love them.
"If people want to judge me without knowing me, that’s their failure.”
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