Claire Lomas’ bittersweet final Instagram posts showed she had packed her suitcase for an ‘incredibly exciting adventure’ before she died in an ‘accident’ in the Middle East.
The mother of two, who rose to fame after she finished the London Marathon in a bionic suit over 17 days in 2012, died in Jordan on August 22 at age 44, her family announced today.
Ms Lomas broke her neck, back and ribs and punctured a lung when her horse threw her off as she took part in the Osberton Horse Trials in Nottinghamshire in 2007.
But the former chiropractor, from Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, refused to let her living conditions lead her to despair and instead raised £1m for charity since the accident.
Her brave outlook was apparent again today as fans uncovered her final posts on social media which showed her smiling with her husband Dan Spincer and commenting on using a positive attitude to overcome challenges.
The paralysed athlete rose to fame after she finished the London Marathon in a robot suit over 17 days in 2012, raising thousands of pounds for the Spinal Research charity.
In one recent post from last month she wrote: ‘There are usually two ways of looking at things, with a positive mind, with a negative mind.
‘I have an incredibly exciting adventure coming up (film camera emoji). It’s time to pack.’
However Ms Lomas would tragically never go on to reveal what the project she was working on was, or where she was headed to on her trip.
Ms Lomas, who was also a motivational speaker and qualified pilot, was made an MBE by Prince William in 2017 who said he was ‘honoured’ to meet her upon presenting the award.
A statement from her family, including her parents Martin and Joyce, read: ‘We are absolutely devastated to lose Claire. We would ask people to respect our privacy in the coming days to allow us to grieve in peace.’
Ms Lomas lived with her husband Dan who she married in 2010 and their two daughters, Maisie and Chloe.
The family has announced a funeral will be held at St Mary’s Church, in Melton Mowbray, but the date is yet to be confirmed.
Elsewhere in Ms Lomas’s final Instagram posts, she showed a stack of medical equipment, alongside two suitcases, writing: ‘One suitcase will be full of the things I need just for my bowel and bladder… because a spinal cord injury means you lose control of both.
‘I can’t feel with they need emptying – and it’s impossible to get it right based on just timings- so many factors to take into account.
‘How rude of it! The injury is selfish…. It can rule your life if you let it.
‘Everywhere I go my spinal cord injury comes with me. 24/7…not even Christmas Day or bank holidays off!
‘On the other hand….. I wouldn’t be going in this amazing adventure if I hadn’t had my spinal cord injury.
‘Sometimes the biggest of changes can bring the best opportunities and you know what… best to just grab the bull by its horns.’
Ms Lomas’s severe injuries in May 2007 included breaking her neck, back and ribs and puncturing a lung when her horse threw her off.
The injuries caused her to be paralysed from the chest down and went through a long period of depression, which she detailed in her first book, Finding My Feet.
But she chose to focus her efforts on raising funds for paralysis through the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation (NSIF).
She got global attention in 2012 when she became the first paralysed person to complete the London Marathon using a robotic suit, raising £220,000 for the NSIF.
For her efforts she was given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron for the Paralympic Games in London 2012.
She also completed the Great North Run and Great South in the robotic suit, and handcycled 400 miles around the UK in another fundraising success.
After becoming disabled, she learned to ride motorcycles at high speeds and ski using adapted skis.
Tara Stewart, chairwoman of Spinal Research, which funds medical research around the world to develop reliable treatments for paralysis caused by a broken back or neck, said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Claire’s death.
‘She was a great supporter of ours, and other spinal injury charities, and a guiding light to the entire community.
‘It was in 2012 that she raised a staggering amount for Spinal Research by walking the London Marathon over 17 days in a robotic suit and she continued to be a powerhouse of positivity and a real inspiration to so many.
‘This is a devastating loss and our thoughts are with her family.’
Great Run posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of the inspirational fundraiser, Claire Lomas MBE.
‘Claire made history as the first person in the UK to walk with a bionic ReWalk suit, inspiring runners across the UK and beyond.
‘Over the past decade, Claire completed many Great Run Series events alongside her dedicated support team, as part of an incredible fundraising drive, raising almost £1 million for charities.’
Paul Foster, chief executive of Great Run, said: ‘Claire was a true inspiration. Her achievement in completing the 2016 Great North Run was one of the most powerful moments in the long history of the event.
‘Everyone at Great Run was devastated to hear of her passing, and we will pay tribute at next week’s Great North Run. Our thoughts and love are with her parents Martin & Joyce, husband Dan, and their two young daughters, Maisie and Chloe.’
In 2018 Ms Lomas revealed she once wished she’d died in the accident that robbed her of her ability to walk.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, she spoke of the ‘dark days’ she endured after the accident, and admitted there were even times she wished that she had ‘hit the tree harder’ and died.
The emotional impact of the accident was huge for Claire, who began to find even simple daily tasks like taking a shower devastating, because she could no longer feel the water on her legs.
She said: ‘I had to rebuild my life from scratch, and it wasn’t without dark days. Everyone thinks the marathon was my toughest challenge – it’s tough, but nothing compared to just getting out of bed when I had no reason to get up.
‘They were the darkest days, the hardest days, making myself carry on.’
She continued: ‘Just heaving myself out of the shower chair… I’d see the water running down my body and I wouldn’t know if it was hot or cold. I felt two thirds dead and there’s times I wish I’d hit the tree a bit harder that I collided with.
‘They were really hard times to get through, and I never thought I’d be happy and be paralysed, but I am now.’
Following her death, Independent Thinking posted on its website saying it was ‘devastated’ to learn of the death.
It said: ‘We first met up with Claire last year and we knew immediately she would make an important contribution to our work with schools, not only as a source of inspiration but also as living example of finding the positives in the negative, of refusing to believe in limitations, and of being uncompromising in how a life can be led.’
The statement added: ‘She will be missed by everyone who met her and who were both humbled and inspired by her.’