A dad who was told he may never be able to walk again after a horror crash in 2020 now dreams of walking his daughters down the aisle thanks to ground-breaking therapy at the Queen Elizabeth National Spinal Injuries Unit (QENSIU) in Glasgow.
Luke Louden, aged 32, was left with a broken neck and back along with a number of other serious leg injuries after the life-changing accident more than two years ago.
The dad-of-four knew that things would never be the same again.
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Luke said: “I was a dairyman before the accident and when I had the accident I knew instantly I was paralysed.
"The doctors didn’t say there was no chance of walking but they said there was a slim chance.
“It was really hard at the start, and I didn’t really know what to do. I was really fit and active, so to lose the use of my legs was tough.
“Early in my therapy, I put so much work in and didn’t see any return, and I could feel my hope just draining away. To make things worse, it was in the middle of lockdown, and I couldn’t see my family for months. That was really hard.”
However, in September this year Luke became the first patient to receive treatment with the newly installed ZeroG Gait and Balance System, a robotic apparatus where a patient is supported during therapy, automatically synchronising with their movements to help them walk and prevent falls.
It is the first of its kind in Scotland.
The young father said: “Quite quickly I began to feel the benefits, and now there’s less pain, fewer spasms, I sleep better and I have lost weight. It’s also been huge for my mental health,
“It’s transformed my life and how I feel. I’ve gone from hardly being able to move to being able to walk 20 metres non-stop on the bars. My record on the ZeroG system is 57 metres.
“I’d love to keep improving but, to be honest, if I couldn’t achieve any more I’d be happy the way I am. Just to be able to stand, even if it’s with a frame, is amazing.
“If you’d asked me six weeks ago if I could even achieve that I’d have said don’t be daft. But now I can stand next to my kids.”
Luke, from Whauphill, has been driven by his wife, Anna, and children Anna, 8, Chloe, 6, Mary, 4, and Isaac, 3, to try regain as much mobility as possible.
The determined dad explained: “They have kept me going – especially my wife. I don’t know how I would have managed without her. I’ve had some really dark times, but now I can look forward with real 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. I mean, look what this system has done for me up to now – you never know what further advances are round the corner.
“Don’t get me wrong, it’s been tough, and the future is daunting, but the team here have been amazing, and I know they’ve got my back.”
Claire Lincoln is one of the team who works with patients using the Zero G system.
She said: "There is an understanding that the more repetitions of a movement we can manage, the better the neurological recovery. Before we installed this system, we were often limited in the number of repetitions we could achieve, given that we needed up to four physiotherapists for any session, and the patient would quickly become fatigued.
“Now we can achieve so much more. We only need one physio to support a patient using ZeroG, and the patient can do a lot more before becoming too tired. The system also allows us to be more creative with the activities we undertake, which means the patient gets more enjoyment and satisfaction while also seeing additional benefit.
“We are still learning the full potential of the system, but because of the support and added safety it gives patients, already it’s allowed us to try therapies earlier than would have been possible before.
“We have so many more options. We’re not necessarily doing anything different, but it allows us to try things in a different way.”
Consultant in Spinal Injuries Dr Mariel Purcell added: “When the unit first opened 30 years ago, a lot of the patient we saw were completely paralysed, from the neck or waist down. Now we are seeing different types of injuries, and more patients have the potential to get back on their feet.
“We used to see a lot of young males, who had perhaps been in a car crash or suffered an industrial accident, but the advances in safety – seat belt wearing and health and safety laws – have made a real difference.
“Now we are seeing damage that isn’t as bad, and we’re seeing older patients who have experienced lower-velocity injuries. This gives us a real chance to help these patients – and the ZeroG system will be instrumental in this work.”
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