Claire Lomas finished the London Marathon 16 days after
the race began. The 32yr old said she was
“over the moon” as she completed the 26.2 mile route, which she started on
22 April, 2012 with 36,000 other participants.
The former chiropractor was in tears as she became the
first person to complete any marathon using a bionic ReWalk suit at 12.50pm on
Tues 7 May.
Hundreds lined the streets as she made her final steps
to complete the race. Three mounted members of the Household Cavalry gave her a
guard of honour as she crossed the finishing line on the Mall.
Lomas paralysed from
the chest down following a horse-riding accident in 2007, said:
“There were times when I questioned whether I
would make it when I was training. Once I started, I just took each day as it
came and every step got me a step closer.”
A spokeswoman for the mounted regiment said the riders
were there to give Lomas “extra support
because she is passionate about horses”.
Lomas will not appear in the official results and did
not receive a medal when she finished as competitors have to complete the
course on the same day to qualify for a medal, organisers said. But a number of marathon runners decided to donate their
own medals to Lomas. Jacqui Rose contributed her medal
along with about 12 others, said:
“She has
epitomised what I thought the London Marathon was all about. That medal, when
you have completed it and gone through all the pain of it, symbolises that
achievement of what you have gone out of your way to do for charity. For her
not to have got one ridicules what the marathon was all about.”
Lomas, from Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray,
Leicestershire, raised more than £86,000 for Spinal Research, a charity which
funds medical research around the world to develop reliable treatments for
paralysis caused by a broken back or neck:
“When I was
in hospital I saw a lot of people with similar injuries to me and a lot worse. I have had
tremendous support since my accident which I am so grateful for. Some don’t
have that. Some people lose the use of their arms as well. A cure needs to be
found.”
She walked about two miles a day, cheered on by her
husband, Dan, her parents and her 13-month-old daughter, Maisie. Lomas said she
was now going to write a book and “spend
some good time with Maisie”.
Lomas broke her neck, back and ribs and punctured a lung
when her horse Rolled Oats threw her
off as she took part in the Osberton horse trials in Nottinghamshire in 2007.
The £43,000 ReWalk suit, designed by the Israeli
entrepreneur Amit Goffer, enables people with lower-limb paralysis to stand,
walk and climb stairs through motion sensors and an onboard computer system.
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