Husband takes on wheelchair challenge to honour campaigner
The husband and best friend of late campaigner Claire Lomas, who raised nearly £1m for charity, are completing three wheelchair running events to reach her fundraising target.
Dan Lomas and Stuart Hall took part in Sunday’s Great North Run, having already done the Manchester 10k, with the Great South Run due in October.
The pair are honouring Ms Lomas, who died in an accident in Jordan last year.
Ms Lomas, from Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, became known for completing the 2012 London Marathon in a robotic suit – an exoskeleton that helps paralysed people walk.
She began fundraising after breaking her neck, back and ribs and puncturing a lung when her horse threw her off during the Osberton Horse Trials in Nottinghamshire in 2007.
The injury left her paralysed from the chest down, but she went on to complete numerous challenges for Spinal Research.
Speaking to the BBC in a pre-recorded film aired as part of its Great North Run coverage, Stuart said: “Me and Dan sat out in Jordan on the day that we lost her, and we vowed to get a million-pound legacy for Claire, and this is one of the events that we’re doing towards that now.
“It’s going to be an emotional day because it’s all memories, but to do it in a chair – but with Claire in here [taps heart], rather than by the side of us really.
“It’s still very tough, and I think I cry most days over something, but it’ll be happy memories now instead of sad ones.”
Dan explained the physical difficulties of racing in wheelchairs: “It’s very strange on the Great North Run because the hills are a nightmare for us and everyone says ‘well, you get the downhill’, but it’s so busy, we’re forever braking.
“If Claire was with us, she’d just shout ‘we’re coming through’, but we can’t get away with that.”
Reflecting on his wife’s approach to challenges, Dan said: “She would always make the challenges as hard as possible.
“Some of them, she didn’t know herself if she’d be able to complete them.”
The pair are determined to keep Ms Lomas’s memory and mission alive.
Stuart said: “A lot of people have said to me that it’s great that we’re keeping Claire’s memory alive and I think that is important.
“I think in 10 years’ time, I want people to still know Claire’s name, what she had done and how she affected so many people’s lives.”
Dan added that continuing the fundraising helps them with grief and motivation: “Claire raised money for the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation… so we want to carry on raising money for the same charity and hopefully see the cure, which is what Claire wanted, that was always her dream.
“I always have in the back of my mind, Claire used to say as a motivational speaker she wasn’t always motivated, especially in the early days.
“That was the hard thing for us, having a reason to get out of bed.
“So, I have that in the back of my mind when training. It doesn’t matter how tough it gets out there, we just keep doing that.”
The Manchester 10k and Great North Run have already been completed, with the Great South Run in October marking the final part of their three-race tribute.
