A mum-of-three who broke her neck and can only walk a few steps has shared her support for Blue Badge reform.

Bev Evans, from Wateringbury suffered a life-changing injury when she fell down the stairs at home on July 30, 2020.

The 58-year-old broke two vertebrae in her neck and had to have a six-hour operation at King’s College Hospital in London.

The surgery involved fitting a titanium plate at the front of her neck, two bolts in the spine at the back, connected to the plate with screws - all surrounded by a titanium cage.

Bev, a former partner in a management consultancy firm, said: “The consultant effectively said to me ‘Your head has fallen off your neck’ because my head had fallen forward.”

Since then, she has applied for a Blue Badge twice but has been refused both times.

In response a Kent County Council (KCC) spokesperson said they understood the authority’s decision was “disappointing” but urged the applicant to follow the appeal process.

KentOnline has launched its campaign Blue Badge Battle to call for changes to the Blue Badge scheme, particularly regarding the eligibility criteria and the three-year validity rule.

The campaign, supported by five MPs, is pushing for changes that would allow more people to benefit from the scheme.

Due to her injury, Bev faced spinal cord compression and has permanent pins and needles in both arms and hands, a side effect which prevents her from doing a number of things.

She said: “I can’t make myself a cup of tea, I can’t carry the washing from the washing machine outside.

“I can hang things up. I sort of do stuff in terms of dexterity but I can’t turn my head very much in either direction so I can no longer drive a car because I don’t have either the strength to do a safe emergency stop or the ability to turn to look either way.

“I can’t cross the road on my own because I have to have someone with me, I can’t turn to see quickly enough whether there is traffic coming from both ways, so I have to be helped across the road.

“I had to be helped across the road to vote. If I’d have been here on my own, I couldn’t have gone and voted without somebody coming and helping me.”

Bev, who now uses a stick to get around, was working full-time as a partner in a management consultancy company, as deputy chief executive and chief finance officer at the time of her injury.

After the pandemic her company started increasing the number of days staff had to attend the office.

She said: “I basically ended up having to give up my substantive job because I couldn’t do the travelling into London which was needed. It just caused too much fatigue.

“I was advised by the hospital to apply for a Blue Badge which I did, but that got rejected on the basis that I might get better - not quite sure how they think that. Then you are not allowed to apply again for six months.

“I’ve got a permanently broken neck which has been repaired by titanium rods. So that’s permanent.”

She first applied in October 2021 and was refused by KCC in a letter seen by KentOnline which states the council had determined that her “condition(s) do not impact your mobility to a substantial level to make you eligible under the subject to further assessment criteria”.

It added: “You are currently receiving treatment that means we are currently unable to determine that your condition(s) will impact you to a substantial level for the life of the badge (three years).”

When she applied again in spring last year she had been seen by a neurosurgical specialist who had produced a report which said Bev was disabled in his professional opinion. She attached the report as evidence for her application but again it was refused.

“I was devastated,” she added. “If we go out for something to eat, Gary [her husband] will have to drive me and get one of the kids to get out with me so that he can drop me off near the restaurant, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do things like that.

“It’s a bit like rubbing your face in it…”

“The Blue Badge would mean we would be able to park nearer to places so I’d be able to do more things than I can.

“I attached a report from a senior consultant who is very well regarded in their field, who has stated in it that I’m disabled. I don't know what else to say.”

In addition, Bev says there was a mental element of having to come to terms with what had happened, applying for the badge, being rejected and then having to reapply.

She didn’t appeal either rejection but she says the whole process is “emotionally distressing” because she doesn’t know what else to say, having already outlined her condition and answering questions about her mobility.

“I think it's really important that they [the council] actually see you. I don’t see how they really understand whether or not you need a Blue Badge without actually seeing how immobile I am."

Part of the reason she has not since applied is because she doesn’t know what more she could put on an application, compared to the previous ones – which were rejected.

“It’s a hard thing to fill in, the application, because of what you are having to say about yourself, and therefore you are having to acknowledge you can’t do all these things,” she said. “It’s a bit like rubbing your face in it.”

Bev is sharing her story to highlight what she says is a “fundamental flaw” in the Blue Badge system.

A KCC spokesperson said: “KCC received approximately 44,000 Blue Badge applications last year and assesses each one on a case-by-case basis against criteria provided by government and the information provided by the applicant.

“We advise applicants to provide as much information about their condition as possible in order for a fully informed decision to be made. Applicants will only be contacted directly if there is a question about the information provided.

“We understand that the council’s decision is disappointing. If an applicant is unhappy with the council’s decision, we advise them to undertake the appeal process where they can provide more information and will be further assessed.”