A motor neurone disease sufferer can stand side by side with his wife for the first time in years - after locals clubbed together to buy him a pioneering wheelchair 'suit'. Sam Cole, 53, was diagnosed with the incurable disease just over five years ago and was only given six months to live. The dad-of-three has since defied the odds but now relies on an eye gazer computer to communicate - in a similar way to Professor Stephen Hawking. The condition, which progressively damages parts of the nervous system, means Sam cannot breathe unaided or feed himself and has only small movement in his legs.