Oliver Bromley, a man living with Neurofibromatosis Type 1, says he was forced to leave a restaurant in Camberwell, South London, after staff claimed customers had complained about his appearance.
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 is a genetic condition that causes non-cancerous tumors to grow on nerves.
According to Daily Mail Online, Mr. Bromley, who was an inpatient at King’s College Hospital at the time of the incident in August, decided to visit the unnamed restaurant for a meal.
After realizing the establishment was cash-only, he stepped out to withdraw money.
However, upon his return, staff asked him to leave, allegedly stating he was “scaring the customers.”
“There had not been enough time between the time I had been there first, and the time I went back, for anyone to have made a complaint about me, so obviously the restaurant staff were not happy with the way I looked,” Mr. Bromley told the BBC.
Hurt by the comment, Bromley chose not to challenge the staff but later reported the incident to both the restaurant and the Metropolitan Police.
“They probably thought having tumors was contagious or something,” he said, attributing the ordeal to a lack of education about his condition.
Now, Bromley is hoping to turn the incident into an opportunity to raise awareness about facial deformities, emphasizing, “It’s not about me. It’s never been about me.”
Karen Cockburn, the charity director of Nerve Tumours UK, expressed disappointment over the incident.
“We were extremely disappointed to hear news of the dreadful, but sadly not uncommon, experience that Oliver had while trying to purchase lunch,” she said.
The organization has since written to the restaurant and UK Hospitality, seeking to raise awareness about the condition within the hospitality sector.
While the restaurant has not responded, UK Hospitality has offered to collaborate on this initiative.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they received a report of the incident, noting, “We take reports of hate crime seriously and record all instances whether they pass the threshold to be classified as a crime or not.”
Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a rare genetic disorder affecting roughly one in 3,000 people worldwide.
The condition can lead to various physical symptoms, including tumors, short stature, and heart problems, with severity ranging from mild to extreme.
