In August 2020, Luke Louden — a 32-year-old dairyman from Whauphill in Dumfries and Galloway — lost control of his car near his home and suffered an incomplete spinal injury that left him paralysed. He knew instantly. Doctors told him he had only a slim chance of ever regaining movement in his legs, and for more than two years he watched his hope drain away. "I was really fit and active, so to lose the use of my legs was tough," he said.
That changed when Luke became the first patient in Scotland to train on the ZeroG Gait and Balance System at Glasgow's Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit. The robotic system fully supports him and automatically synchronises with his movements as he works with a single physiotherapist, preventing falls so he can push for more repetitions. "The ZeroG system was hard at first because my limbs didn't know what to do, but then everything became smoother," he said. "I've gone from hardly being able to move to being able to walk 20 metres nonstop at the bars. My record on the ZeroG system is 57 metres." Along the way he's had less pain, fewer spasms, better sleep, and renewed hope.
"The dream would obviously be to walk my girls down the aisle, so I'm going to keep going, to keep trying — for Anna and all my children."Luke Louden