A wheelchair-using groom spent a year having physiotherapy to be able to stand for his first dance with his wife on their wedding day.<br /><br />Barry MacDowell, 49, and his wife, Emma, 36 - who both have multiple sclerosis - met on an MS support platform and bonded over their similar sense of humour.<br /><br />Once they became a couple, Emma moved herself and her son, Corbhan Doyle, 11, in with Barry in Kinmylies, Inverness, Scotland.<br /><br />In 2021, dad-of-three Barry - who has been using a wheelchair since 2018 - proposed to Emma and the couple began planning their big day.<br /><br />Barry was determined to stand and join his bride for their first dance - a medley of 'Thinking Out Loud' by Ed Sheeran and 'Shut Up And Dance' by Walk the Moon - on their wedding day on April 8, 2023, at Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness, Scotland.<br /><br />The pair decided to keep their stunt a surprise for their guests and just Barry, Emma and a team of neuro-physiotherapists were in on making it happen.<br /><br />Not only were their guests amazed, but Emma was in shock - as Barry remained on his feet, supported by his physio team, for the entire song.<br /><br />Emma, a former hairdresser, originally from Portsmouth, Hampshire, said: "Barry could walk when we first met in 2017, but since then he's only been in a wheelchair.<br /><br />"Because of that, I would always have to be behind him pushing him, because at the start he couldn't self-propel.<br /><br />"So that dance was a different type of closeness. Until then, I never even knew he was taller than me.<br /><br />"Now it's done, it doesn't feel real - I want to do it again."<br /><br />Barry, a former BMW technician, added: "My legs were sore for two and a half weeks after the wedding - but it was worth it of course."<br /><br />Barry was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) in 2015 - after waiting over a decade for a diagnosis.<br /><br />The delay meant he wasn't able to get the right treatment for a long time - meaning the condition became more severe, leading to him becoming reliant on a wheelchair.<br /><br />Emma has the same condition - after being diagnosed following a bout of meningitis aged 29.<br /><br />But due to a speedy diagnosis in 2016 she could be treated sooner so she is able still able to walk, although suffers numbness in her hands, bladder issues and memory problems.<br /><br />Both single parents at the time, Barry and Emma got chatting online in 2017 through an MS support group on Facebook.<br /><br />They met in person for the first time at their MS group's Christmas meet in Glasgow, Scotland, that December - and ended up spending the whole weekend together because they got on so well.<br /><br />After that they began visiting each other every few weeks, travelling between Portsmouth and Inverness after becoming official - and Emma and Corbhan had moved in with Barry by September 2018.<br /><br />Emma said: "We get on so well - we started off with funny jokes and our relationship grew from there.<br /><br />"We're BOB - Built On Banter - we're taking the mickey out of each other all the time.<br /><br />"The main things we have in common are a love of Oasis, and having MS.
