Martyn Ashton has taken another huge step – or rather, steps – forward on his rehabilitation from the spinal injury sustained in a 2013 crash that left him paralysed from the waist down, posting a video showing him taking a “stroll” in hospital grounds with the help of a high-tech external frame called a Parawalker.
Posted to the Road Bike Party star’s Instagram account earlier today, the footage shows staff from the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, where the Parawalker was developed, helping the 41-year-old as he manages to do something most of us simply take for granted – move forward by putting one foot in front of another.
Several people commenting on the post mentioned how inspirational Ashton is, and few who have followed his story since a stunt went wrong in a trials demonstration at the British Moto GP at Silverstone three years ago would argue with that.
He first demonstrated the Parawalker – an external frame that allows paraplegic patients to walk ‘normally,’ with the user’s knees locked and the hips used to direct motion, with crutches or a walking frame providing stability – in November with a video that showed him going to the hospital cafeteria for a coffee.
> Martyn Ashton walking again (+ video)
His life-changing accident happened while he was midway through filming the sequel to the hugely successful Road Bike Party film, with Road Bike Party 2 completed with the help of his friends Chris Akrigg and Danny MacAskill.
In December, he said he was selling the Colnago C59 Disc bike featured in the sequel to pay for his medical costs. Fans rallied round, however, and launched a GoFundMe campaign that swiftly raised more than £50,000 for him.
> Ashton appeal hits £50,000 (+ video)
That's what I try to do too. As a bonus you get to stand on the pavement watching all the idiot drivers swerving around like headless chickens...
You just can't help yourself can you?
Your mistake was not going to see someone in Barnard Castle.
Gotta be honest here, it is YOUR attitude that comes across… slightly peculiar....
That's quite a shocking number of pedestrian deaths (405). Walking isn't supposed to be risky.
I jad a taxi driver pull up beside me at a traffic light to comment on how visible I was....
One more wasted green space will fix it.
Pedantic I know but that implies that he has won three stages in each of the GTs, whereas actually he has three in the Tour, one in the Giro and...
I agreed with you until I found these: https://fablecycle.com/products/excalibur-padded-lycra-shorts
Kind offer, I think though they need a ferrule that will get them into a hole......