British Woman Becomes the First to Don a ₤45,000 Robotic Power Suit For Life

Remember Claire Lomas, the woman paralysed from the chest down who amazingly managed to complete the London marathon in 17 days with the help of a robotic exoskeleton?

She’s become the first person in history to take home a power suit for every-day living. Even though unaided she can’t walk, she can now climb stairs, walk about, and, most importantly, stand at the bar to get a pint.

The marathon walk Lomas completed in April was a hell of a beta test for the machine, which up until that point was still in trials. This is the first time a suit has been given to a disabled patient for full time usage, and marks a major stop forward for power suit technology — next step, Iron Man.

It’s hoped that quite a few wheel chair users could be equipped with the suit to take them out and about, which would be fantastic. But I still can’t help but think how good it’d be to have one of these power suits, maybe in hot-rod red and orange, for myself. Imagine being able to lift vast weights, or leap tall buildings in a single bound. OK, we’re not there just yet, but one can dream, right?