Four-time Paralympic gold medallist Kadeena Cox has revealed people have accused her of "faking" her disability and "taking money" from the government.
Cox became the first British Paralympian to medal in two separate sports when she won gold in both athletics and cycling at the Rio 2016 Paralympics, before winning two more gold medals in cycling at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. The 31-year-old was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a condition that affects the brain and the nervous system, after suffering a stroke in 2014.
After research from Bupa found that 83% of people with less visible conditions and impairments regularly experience a lack of understanding or negative attitudes in public, Cox said: "As someone living with MS, I get people saying I shouldn't be parking in a blue badge spot.
"I get people who don't want to give up the priority seat on the train or the bus for me. I get people on social media saying 'that Kadeena Cox can't be disabled, I don't believe it' or people saying you are faking it and taking money from the DWP (Department for Work and Pensions).
"It's people and their ignorant or uneducated selves making comments and passing judgement." Cox also struggles with an eating disorder and says she sometimes feels like she is "fighting a losing battle".
She added: "On social media I'm always dancing around, I'll be getting in and out of my wheelchair, doing wheelchair dances just to showcase not all illnesses are what you think.
"I'll do videos where I post all the things that I deal with that you can't see: the brain fog, the bladder issues, the pain, the sensory issues, the lack of sensation in my feet. I struggle with an eating disorder that I've openly spoke about so that's one challenge.
"It really makes you question your life sometimes. Now I've got this disability, my mental health is struggling because people are commenting on my disability and you just feel like you're fighting a losing battle.
"There are some days when I'm just like 'What am I fighting for?' But the reality is I'm fighting for all those people that are in this position and feel like there's nothing to fight for."
