Last Sunday, Claire Lomas lined up at the start of the London marathon with the other 35,000 participants. A week later, she crossed Tower Bridge, reaching the halfway point of her epic challenge to become the first person to complete the 26.2 miles using a bionic ReWalk suit.
Claire, who has already raised over £55,000 for Spinal Research, lost the feeling in both legs after a horse riding accident. Her ReWalk suit was designed by Israeli entrepreneur Amit Goffer. It’s an alternative to a wheelchair for people with severe walking impairments, enabling them to stand, walk, and climb stairs. It works by using motion sensors that respond to upper body movement through an onboard computer system.
Claire has had a huge amount of support, and not only from her friends and family. Famous faces who have joined her along the way include television presenter Gabby Logan and her rugby star husband Kenny Logan, tennis player Tim Henman and Olympic gold medallist Sir Matthew Pinsent. And as you can see from the photo above, Claire has had to endure some pretty persistent April showers in the last week.
If you’d like to support Claire’s marathon effort, you can make a donation to her page. To donate by text message, just send LEGS60 followed by an amount (£ 1, £2, £3, £4, £5, or £10) to 70070.
Claire’s hoping to cross the marathon finish line on Tuesday 8th May. To follow her progress, have a look at her Twitter updates (@claire80lomas) and use the hashtag #claireswalk to tweet messages of encouragement. You can also see the latest photos from Clare’s challenge on Spinal Research’s Facebook page.
Good luck Claire, from everyone at JustGiving!
Photos courtesy of Press Association
Tags: claire lomas, London Marathon, spinal research