Paralysed rider aims for VLM with 'Wrong Trousers' robot legs

A leading horse rider who was left paralysed from the waist down after falling during a competition is to take part in the London marathon using a new robot skeleton that is allowing her to walk again.

When Claire Lomas suffered dreadful spinal injuries in a riding accident she was told bluntly she would never walk again. Five years later not only is she walking, she is planning to take part in the London Marathon. The astonishing feat has been achieved by becoming the first person in Britain to be fitted with a robotic suit which enables her to stand upright, walk and will eventually let her climb stairs. The suit - which she compares to Wallace and Gromit's "wrong trousers" - uses motors and gears strapped at her hips, knees and ankles to lift and move her legs.