Stewarts’ client, Ben Barnes, who suffered paralysis in a road traffic accident, will get to walk his fiancée Charlotte Simmonds down the aisle at their wedding using the REX robotic walking device.

Part of his damages award comprised £550,000 for orthotics to include his claim for the cost of the REX robotic walking device for home rehabilitation, its replacements and associated costs.

Ben Rogers, the lead Partner in the Personal Injury team said:

“I am delighted that Ben will be able to use the robotic device on such a special day in his life.”

The below article originally appeared on the MailOnline here by Kate Pickles published 3 February

Car crash victim left paralysed for life is set to WALK down the aisle on his wedding day in robotic legs awarded by High Court judge

• Ben Barnes, 31, was a passenger in the crash which broke his back in 2011
• Doctors told him he would spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair
• He was awarded the £90,000 as part of his compensation for the injuries
• Now plans to stand next to fiancée Charlotte Simmonds at July wedding

A man who was left paralysed by a car crash will now walk down the aisle after being awarded a pair of robotic legs by a High Court judge.

Ben Barnes, 31, broke his back in two places, suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung following the accident in 2011.

Doctors revealed the devastating news he would never walk again and he started adjusting to life in a wheelchair.

But now the former roofer, from Canterbury, Kent, is taking his first steps since he was awarded the robotic limbs by a High Court judge.

He said he was now determined to stand beside his fiancée Charlotte Simmonds, 25, when the couple tie the knot in July.

‘I can’t wait to stand up next to Charlotte as we exchange our vows,’ he told The Mirror.

‘We’re both really excited about the wedding and while it may take a while to walk down the aisle I am determined to do it, even if it is just part of the way.’

Mr Barnes was awarded the exoskeleton following a landmark ruling into compensation he should receive following the crash.

He was injured after he was given a lift by his friend who was drunk and lost control of the car, hitting a roundabout, causing it to flip over several times.

‘Having been told I would never walk again, you can understand my excitement when I first heard about REX and the freedom it provides for people like me with paralysis.

‘The initial feeling of being upright and at eye level is priceless, not to mention the health benefits. This truly is a life changing piece of technology.’

The walking device is the word’s first hands-free, self-supporting, independently-controlled robotic device.

It does not require crutches or a walking frame to provide stability so users can be hands free.

It can be used by people, like Mr Barnes, with a complete spinal cord injury who are paralysed from the waist downwards.

Each exoskeleton costs between £80,000 and £95,000 and is adapted to meet an individual’s requirements.

His frame cost around £90,000 and has a top speed of one and half miles per hour.

Crispin Simon, Chief Executive Officer of Rex Bionics, said: ‘These awards are an endorsement from the courts and from the insurance industry, of the principle that the REX robot technology can enable people with spinal cord injuries to remain healthy; and to resume activities they may have thought were no longer available to them.’

Ben Rogers of Stewarts, who represented Mr Barnes, said: ‘This is a landmark award of damages which means that Ben Barnes can purchase his own REX to use at home.’

Further press coverage

The Mirror – Bionic man to WALK down the aisle on wedding day after being paralysed in car crash

The Sun – Paralysed car crash victim takes first steps with £550,000 bionic limbs

Kent Online – Ben Barnes standing tall with a little help from ‘bionic’ Rex

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