Legacy of ‘bionic woman’ Claire Lomas passes £1m milestone

The husband and best friend of campaigner Claire Lomas have taken the total she raised for charity past £1m – and vowed to continue raising money in her memory.

Claire Lomas, from Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, began fundraising after a 2007 horse accident left her paralysed, with her efforts including completing the 2012 London Marathon in a robotic suit.

She died five weeks after a microlight crash in Jordan in 2024 having raised £952,000 for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.

On Sunday, her husband Dan Spincer and best friend Stuart Hall completed the last of three running challenges in wheelchairs to raise money to help keep her “legacy alive” and reach the £1m mark.

Organisers announced the £1m milestone had been reached before the pair took part in the 10-mile Great South Run in Portsmouth.

They crossed the finish line together after two hours, eight minutes and 35 seconds, after previously wheeling through both the Great Manchester Run and Great North Run in 2025.

Speaking afterwards, a tearful Mr Spincer said: “I just want to keep Claire’s legacy alive and keep spreading the word that she was spreading and doing the great job that she was doing.”

Mr Hall added: “I just think of her walking into a room or wheeling into a room with a massive smile and she just lit up a room.

“That’s my best friend. That’s who I’m missing now.”

Friends and family also completed the 10-mile challenge on Sunday, with Ms Lomas’s daughters taking part in the Junior and Mini Great South Run on Saturday.

Family friend Linda Nicol said it was a “very emotional” experience, adding: “Claire was just such a presence.”

Ms Lomas was told she would never walk again after she was thrown from her horse at the Osberton Horse Trials in 2007 but a suit with mechanical legs, called ReWalk, helped her to take her first steps again at a rehabilitation centre in East Yorkshire five years later.

The suit used braces to support the legs, motors to help rotate joints, weight and sensors to help control movement.

Ms Lomas was the first person in the UK to use the ReWalk suit and wore it to complete the 2012 London Marathon in 17 days.

She used it again to complete the Great North Run in 2016, earning the nickname “bionic woman” for her achievements.

Ms Lomas was also selected to light the Paralympic flame in 2012 and was appointed MBE in 2017 for her fundraising efforts.

Mr Hall previously said he and Mr Spincer sat out in Jordan on the day Ms Lomas died, and vowed to get a £1m legacy for her.

Now Mr Hall said the campaigning will “continue to the next million”.