Groom who uses a wheelchair stuns his bride by standing for their first dance on their wedding day
- Barry MacDowell, 49, surprised wedding party in Scotland with his first dance
- READ MORE: Mum reveals the subtle warning signs she had for years before being diagnosed with devastating disease
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.
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.
Once they became a couple, Emma moved herself and her son, Corbhan Doyle, 11, in with Barry in Kinmylies, Inverness, Scotland and in 2021, dad-of-three Barry – who has been using a wheelchair since 2018 – proposed to Emma, with the couple beginning planning their big day right away.
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.
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. 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.
Barry MacDowell, 49, who lives with multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, surprised his wedding party and and his wife, Emma, 36 – who also has the condition – by standing for the duration of their first dance on their wedding day at Kingsmills Hotel, Inverness, Scotland
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.
‘Because of that, I would always have to be behind him pushing him, because at the start he couldn’t self-propel.
‘So that dance was a different type of closeness. Until then, I never even knew he was taller than me.
‘Now it’s done, it doesn’t feel real – I want to do it again.’
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.’
Barry was diagnosed with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) in 2015 – after waiting over a decade for a diagnosis.
Pictured: the happy couple with their family on their big day last April. The pair first met online in 2017
Barry admitted that his legs were sore for two weeks after the wedding stunt, but said it had been worth it
After the couple struck a romance, Emma moved in with her son, Corbhan Doyle, 11, and Barry proposed in 2021
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.
Emma has the same condition – after being diagnosed following a bout of meningitis aged 29.
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.
Both single parents at the time, Barry and Emma got chatting online in 2017 through an MS support group on Facebook.
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.
The pair had decided to surprise their guests with a dance number on their wedding day last April
The medley’s duration of one minute and thirty seconds was the longest time Barry has ever spent standing before
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.
Emma said: ‘We get on so well – we started off with funny jokes and our relationship grew from there.
‘We’re BOB – Built On Banter – we’re taking the mickey out of each other all the time.
‘The main things we have in common are a love of Oasis, and having MS.
‘Other than that, we’re opposites – but it somehow works.’
Barry added: ‘We go together like peas and carrots, like Forrest Gump says.’
In early 2021, Barry proposed – but in July that year Emma lost her beloved dad, Robert Townsend, 64.
Emma said: ‘His death put things into perspective – for a while, I didn’t see the point in marrying because my dad wouldn’t be there.
‘But when Barry suggested instead we have a quiet wedding, I realised I did want to share it with lots of people after all.’
In early 2022 they booked their wedding venue and the countdown was on for the big day.
With a year to go, Barry had an idea – that he’d go through special physiotherapy to help him learn to stand so he could properly dance with Emma on their big day.
So, they enlisted the help of Move4ward – an organisation that specialises in neuro-physiotherapy and rehabilitation.
What is multiple sclerosis (MS)?
MS is an an immune system disorder. This is when something goes wrong with the immune system and it mistakenly attacks a healthy part of the body – in this case, the brain or spinal cord of the nervous system.
In MS, the immune system attacks the layer that surrounds and protects the nerves, called the myelin sheath. This damages and scars the sheath, and potentially the underlying nerves, meaning that messages travelling along the nerves become slowed or disrupted.
Exactly what causes the immune system to act in this way is unclear, but most experts think a combination of genetic and environmental factors is involved.
Barry said: ‘It was just amazing. I told them about the wedding first dance, and they said ‘yeah, we’ll get you to do this’.’
Over countless sessions practicing walking on parallel bars and a zero-gravity treadmill, Barry’s progress was slow but steady.
They tried to get Barry vertical using leg braces, but it was too painful, so the plan was for Dave and Jude from Move4ward to hold him up for the dance.
And as the wedding day rolled around, the pressure was on.
Only Emma, Barry, Dave and Jude knew what was about to happen when ‘Thinking Out Loud’ came on.
Dave and Jude – dressed in black and wearing balaclavas to avoid stealing the limelight – slipped discreetly onto the dance floor and helped get Barry on his feet.
He remained standing for the entire dance – one minute 30 seconds – the longest amount of time he’d ever stood up for before.
Emma said: ‘It was amazing to dance with him.
‘Although, the whole time I was worried he was about to headbutt me.’
Barry said he was ‘so proud’ of his achievement – and since the wedding the couple have loved married life.
He said: ‘The dance was amazing.
‘My legs were sore for two and a half weeks after the wedding, but it was worth it of course.
‘Every day now I’ve got earbuds in, and I sit and watch our wedding video.
‘I love it, I just can’t stop watching it.’
Move4ward’s Dave Powney added: ‘We loved [Barry’s] attitude and determination and were only too pleased to help him.
‘Initially we practiced with Barry standing weightless in our Alter-G Anti-Gravity treadmill. We managed to achieve his first independent stand with us just a few days prior to the wedding.
‘On the day, myself and my colleague Jude Simms simply assisted Barry to stand and then dance with Emma, at this point there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.’
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