Heartwarming footage shows father with MS walking his daughter down the aisle after learning to move with a £100,000 robotic exoskeleton
- Steve Barnes, 59, from Reading, spent months learning how to use robotic legs
- Dream to give Coral away on her wedding day was crushed as his MS worsened
- But he took part in hospital trial and spent five hours a day practicing to walk
This is the heartwarming moment an MS sufferer achieves his dream of waking his daughter down the aisle after learning to move using robotic legs.
Steve Barnes, 59, spent months building up strength in his legs using the £100,000 robotic exo-skeleton so he could give Coral away on her big day.
The devoted father practice moving in the suit for five hours a day practicing before being able to walk his daughter down the aisle with a walking stick last weekend.
The technology walks patients them forward and back slowly which allows them to focus on the muscles needed to improve balance, mobility and strength.
It also builds up their confidence by removing the risk of falling.
Steve Barnes, 59, spent months learning to walk using a robotic exo-skeleton so he could give Coral away on her big day
The machine takes away the risk of falling and the fear that accompanies it and allows people to become confident in a safe environment. He was able to practice in the machine through an NHS trial
Mr Barnes was one of 20 patients involved in an NHS trial to help patients with degenerative illnesses re-learn to walk.
He had previously been using a mobility scooter and was told he may never walk again.
But the determined father travelled nearly three hours from his home in Reading, Berkshire, to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital to take part in the trial with hopes of giving Coral away to fiance James on their wedding day.
Mr Barnes told Kent Online: ‘At the start of the trial I could only stand for 30 seconds.
‘At the end they asked me to do it for two minutes, and those two minutes were effortless. I am sure I could have gone on and done more.
‘I was also able to balance while looking over my shoulder and reaching forward while standing – it felt quite revelatory being able to do these things.’
Mr Barnes was able to take the technology home practice the exercises at home ahead of his daughter’s wedding to fiancé James last month.
The devoted father spent five hours every day practicing in the suit before being able to walk his daughter down the aisle with a walking stick last weekend
He added: ‘It was really emotional – the night before the wedding, my daughter gave me some socks with the words ‘slow and steady’ on and the date.
‘I didn’t want to let her down and even that morning the registrar said we might have to think about using the scooter as my legs were hardly functioning but I was able to do it and it was brilliant.
MS is a condition in which the immune system attacks the body and causes nerve damage to the brain and spinal cord.
It is an incurable, lifelong condition which often causes severe disability.
MS affects 2.3 million people worldwide – including around 100,000 in the UK.