Stop wheelchair with his bride
We then unsuccessfully tried functional electrical stimulation (FES) and carbon fibre knee braces outside the treadmill. After many practice sessions we decided it was easier for us to simply support his knee and pelvis manually.”
Barry’s characteristic sense of fun shone through with his choice of song for the wedding’s first dance. He selected Ed Sheeran’s ‘Thinking Out Loud,’ the opening lyrics of which are: “When your legs don’t work like they used to before, and I can’t sweep you off of your feet.”
After a record scratch sound-effect, the DJ reverted to their real first dance song. As the first bars of ‘Shut Up and Dance’ by Walk the Moon struck up, Dave and Jude – who were dressed in black and wearing balaclavas to ensure they didn’t steal the limelight – slipped discreetly on to the dimly-lit dance floor and helped Emma get Bar on his feet.
Bar said: “I told no one except Emma that I was going to stand. I didn’t even tell my best man or my family. I wanted it all to be a surprise. Emma helps out with my physio sessions, so she had to know.
“I didn’t do a lot of practice of actually dancing but standing was difficult. I just soldiered through it and told myself I could do it. I wanted to do it with leg braces, without Dave and Jude holding me, but they felt too sore.
“It felt amazing. I thought I’d done Emma proud and it was an achievement for me. I was also shocked at how tall I looked. And Emma had heels on!
“Now I’ve stood for our first dance, my plan is to go back to Move4ward and do some more walking on the parallel bars and see how I get on.”
Said Emma: “There were a lot of cheers and a lot of tears. I was worried Bar was going to head-butt me, as his head was constantly moving about near my face as he danced. People came up to us afterwards and said they were amazed by it.
“We’ve never been able to stand together before. We’ve never walked down the street holding hands. Even when we’re out and we’re holding hands we’re still a distance away from each other because of the wheelchair. So it was lovely to feel that closeness.”
The vision of charity, MS Society, is for a world free from the effects of MS. Its work is based on the hopes and aspirations of the MS community, and it campaigns at all levels, funds groundbreaking research and provides awardwinning support and information.
To find out more about MS, call 0808 800 8000, or visit: wwwmssociety.org.uk
Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country,
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