By Kevin Scott

A dad has been made to feel like a prisoner in his own body after a stroke left him completely paralysed - but still fully cognitive.

Robert Dorrian is only able to communicate with his family by blinking his eyes, squeezing their hands or through his spelling chart.

The 55-year-old, from Kilwinning, is a sufferer of locked-in syndrome, meaning he is unable to speak or make facial movements, and has spent the last two years inside a hospital high dependency unit.

Robert's family claims he is not being offered the physio treatment he requires to get better despite showing improvement in his muscle strength.

Elaine, his sister, told STV News: "My brother has been here for 23 months and the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke tell you that stroke patients must, and I underline must, receive ten to 12 hours a week of rehabilitation physio - Robert has been here 23 months and has had 12 hours."

Robert's ordeal began two years ago when he suffered a brain stem stroke.

He was rushed to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock and placed into an induced coma in a bid to relieve swelling pressure around his brain.

But when Robert awoke from the coma, doctors had to break the devastating news to his family that he was locked-in.

His family said there are only two wards at the hospital able to deal with a patient with his condition - high dependency and 'Ear, Nose and Throat' as Robert also has a tracheotomy.

Robert's daughter Shelby is heavily involved in his care programme, but that has come at a cost to her own mental health and social life.

"We try and have some normality so I go to work but everyday it's finishing work and coming to see my dad, the weekend is visiting my dad and you feel guilty if you do have fun, if you go out and do something," she said.

"You just feel guilty about it because you just have thing in the back of your head all of the time that my dad's lying in a hospital bed and he can't ask for help or, you know, do anything for himself so it has been a really difficult two years," she added.

Joanne Edwards, director for acute services at NHS Ayrshire and Arran, did not comment specifically on Robert's case but said a statement its "multi-disciplinary teams are committed to working closely with any affected patients and their families".

Locked-in-syndrome is a rare neurological disorder in which there is complete paralysis of all voluntary muscles except for the ones that control the eyes.

Individuals with the condition are conscious and awake, but have no ability to produce movements or to speak.

Allan Cowie, the director of Chest Heart and Stroke Scotland, says it's difficult to say whether a full recovery is possible for patients living with locked-in syndrome.

"It's quite a rare condition. We really need to care for people as much as we can to ensure that not only do they survive stroke but they have a really good quality of life after stroke."

As well as the support from his family, Robert has received messages from some unlikely quarters.

Elaine recently attended an event at Coventry's Ricoh Arena and managed to get boxers Audley Harrison and David Haye to record a video message that she played to Robert in his hospital bed.

Robert's family hope to bring him home one day, but for now they just desperately want to see him defy the odds and show further signs of returning to health.