A 10-year-old British girl, whose one leg was amputated due to meningitis, has been told that benefits given to her would be stopped because she was “very mobile” and could play sports.
Olivia Porter has a prosthetic right limb. She also cannot use her right arm and says the false leg is often painful.
But the department of work and pensions has said in a letter that Olivia’s monthly 281-pound disability living allowance and 26-pound mobility allowance were being stopped, The Sun reported.
A spokeswoman from the work and pensions department said: “We have been told Olivia is very mobile and can play contact sports, including girls’ rugby and netball. We do not accept she is disabled as claimed.”
A subsidised car her family uses for hospital trips is also being taken away.
Olivia’s aunt Sheryl Robertson, who has cared for her since her mother died in 2002, said the department axed the benefits on the basis of a telephone conversation with a teacher.
Sheryl, 32, of Rugby, Warwickshire, said: “How disabled do you have to be?”