A DISTINGUISHED medical engineer, who developed artificial muscles for the disabled so they could move their arms and fingers, has died.

Born in 1916, Alphonsus Lord grew up in Barnoldswick, Lancashire.

Alf, as he was known, was one of two pupils to be awarded a scholarship at Ermystead’s Grammar School in nearby Skipton, Yorkshire.

He left aged 14, as his family needed him to work and his first job was a grocery store assistant.

Mr Lord moved to Oxford, excelling in an apprenticeship at the Pressed Steel works in Cowley, and attended evening classes in electrical engineering before taking up a job at the Post Office.

During the Second World War he was enlisted in The Royal Signal Corps, and was involved in laying underwater cables across the Channel.

It was during his time in the army that he met his future wife, Beryl Dennis, and the couple went on to have three children, Christine, Gregory and David.

His wide-ranging skills led him to the original Radcliffe Infirmary, in Oxford.

Here, he worked alongside distinguished physicians, designing and constructing equipment for surgery and research.

His work in the haematology department alongside Dr Gwyn MacFarlane was instrumental in the development of the first successful treatment of haemophilia.

In 1959 he left the hospital to help set up The Mary Marlborough Lodge in Headington, a cutting edge rehabilitation centre for the disabled and victims of Polio and Thalidomide.

That was eventually incorporated into the Nuffield Orthapaedic Centre where Mr Lord was appointed technical officer in 1963.

He was at the forefront of introducing and developing the use of revolutionary gas-powered artificial muscles, which enabled the profoundly disabled to move their arms and fingers.

In 1965 he was appointed as engineer to the Queen Elizabeth Training College for the Disabled in Surrey, and in 1971, to Cheshire Homes as an advisor on aids and equipment for the disabled.

In 1983, in his Cheshire Homes role, he visited Jordan to work on the Al Hussain Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Physically Handicapped, which was later opened by the HM Queen.

Sadly he lost his wife Beryl to cancer shortly after. His son Gregory died in 1996.

He retired to Southend and died on Thursday, November 11, aged 94. His funeral is at 2.15pm on Tuesday, November 23 at Oxford Crematorium.