TWO people have been given the chance to walk again thanks to a Lake District charity.

A Windermere-based organisation dedicated to actively promoting the needs of severely disabled people has successfully raised enough money to purchase two robotic exoskeletons.

The machines help provide hip and knee motion to people with severe spinal cord injuries.

The Independence of Disabled People (AID) charity, set up in 2014 by Paul Adorian and his wife Ruth, who has Motor Neurone Disease, managed to raise vital funds so that Lucy Dodd, of Aldershot, and Darren Edwards, could acquire the life-changing equipment, the Rewalk Personal 6.0.

On Tuesday, Miss Dodd and Mr Edwards travelled up to Cumbria to pay their thanks to Mr and Mrs Adorian.

“We had a very successful day here on Tuesday, which was also very moving for all of us who do not even have to think about walking,” said Mr Adorian,

“And as a charity we are determined to raise more and more funds so that we can help more people who are confined to wheelchairs following serious spinal injuries.”

Approximately 12 years ago, at the age of 18, Miss Dodd, while at Lancaster University, developed a serious spinal problem.

It necessitated a major operation on her spine which sadly failed to achieve the hoped for result, leaving her paralysed from the waist down.

Mr Edwards was paralysed after suffering from a serious fall three years ago while climbing a steep rock face in Wales.

Now Mr Edwards, who is from Wales, is aspiring to become a member of the Paralympic Kayak Team,

“We are only too well aware that the increasing number of people with serious disabilities is putting ever greater demands on charities such as ours,” continued Mr Adorian.

“But we are also very conscious of the fact that, without the generosity of people prepared to support activities such as ours, it would not be possible to perform miracles such as enabling people whose injuries result in confinement to a wheelchair, to get up and walk again.”

The charity has managed to purchase three exoskeletons and continues to raise more funds to help those who have suffered from a serious spinal injury.

Exoskeletons costs around £80,000.

For more information and to donate visit www.disabledday.org or call Paul Adorian on 01539448459.