Paralyzed British Woman Completes Marathon in Bionic Suit
InnovationNewsDaily Staff
May 08 2012 05:00 PM ET
On Monday, a paralyzed British woman became the first person to complete a marathon while wearing a bionic suit.
Claire Lomas, 32, walked the 26.2 miles course over a period of 16 days with the aid of her husband and their 13-month-old daughter.
"It was really emotional and I couldn't believe the support - I'm still in shock really," Lomas told the BBC.
"The last half a mile or so was pretty easy to walk because I had everyone just pushing me forward."
Lomas was paralyzed from the chest down after breaking her back in a horse-riding accident five years ago.
She walked the marathon while wearing the STG43,000 ReWalk suit, which was designed by Israeli entrepreneur Amit Goffer and enables people with lower-limb paralysis to stand, walk and climb stairs through motion sensors and an onboard computer system.
Lomas did not receive a medal because she did not finish the race on the same day, but several other runners in the race gave her their own medals.
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