Paralysed charity campaigner Claire Lomas died in Jordan after her microlight crashed while filming content for a series for Apple using an Apple Vision Pro headset. The 44-year-old fundraiser, known for completing the London Marathon in a bionic suit, succumbed to an infection on August 22, 2024.
Claire Lomas, a 44-year-old disability campaigner and fundraiser from Eye Kettleby, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, died following a severe crash during a production shoot commissioned by tech giant Apple, an ongoing inquest has heard.
Lomas had been selected alongside other athletes to perform a feat for a series promoting the Apple Vision Pro headset. Instead, an inquest at County Hall in Glenfield, Leicestershire, has uncovered the precise sequence of decisions, weather hurdles, and flight adjustments that preceded the fatal accident.
The Flight, the Camera Mount, and the Fatal Descent in Jordan
Lomas flew to Jordan on July 10, 2024, to take part in the Apple production, managed by Atlantic Productions. Senior producer Lina Zilinskaite told the court that Lomas was “very happy” and showed “no concerns” ahead of the attempt. The production company was well aware that Lomas was paralysed from the chest down following a 2007 horse-riding accident at the Osberton Horse Trials in Nottinghamshire, and that she required assistance entering and exiting the specially adapted microlight.
The challenge was originally scheduled for July 14, but strong winds forced a postponement. By the following morning, conditions had settled. Zilinskaite and microlight designer and manufacturer Ben Ashman met at the filming location around 04:00. Ashman expressed momentary concern after spotting a Facebook post made by Lomas the night before, prompting a quick check-in at the hotel.
Lomas took off without issue and spent roughly 15 minutes airborne. Ashman landed his aircraft first and cleared the runway to give Lomas a clear path for her descent. As she approached, however, the trajectory faltered. Zilinskaite raised her phone to record the landing but instinctively lowered it when she noticed the approach was not quite straight on
. The microlight veered off the runway
and struck a large rock.
Hospital Care Concerns and a Rapid Medical Deterioration
Emergency responders rushed Lomas by a standby ambulance to Petra before an air ambulance transferred her to the King Hussein Medical Centre in Amman. Louise Pinder, the senior coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire, noted that Lomas suffered multiple severe traumatic injuries during the July 15 impact.
While Lomas spent weeks hospitalized and grew eager to return home to her family, her health took a sharp turn for the worse after she contracted an infection. She died on August 22, 2024, more than five weeks after the crash.
The inquest touched upon questions surrounding her medical treatment abroad. Pinder acknowledged that Lomas’s relatives raised concerns about the care she received at the Jordanian hospital, though the coroner clarified that investigating those grievances formally fell outside her legal jurisdiction.
A Legacy of Boundless Determination
Before her tragic accident, Lomas had built an extraordinary public profile as a relentless charity campaigner and motivational speaker. Paranalysed from the chest down nearly two decades prior, she captured national attention in 2012 by becoming the first person to complete a marathon wearing a ReWalk robotic bionic suit, a feat that took 17 days and raised substantial funds for the Spinal Research charity. Her accomplishments also included completing the Great North Run in 2016 and hand-cycling 400 miles over three weeks.
Her aviation pursuits were equally deliberate. Witnesses confirmed she had obtained a pilot’s licence for microlights years before Apple commissioned the documentary series, and she had even purchased her own adapted aircraft between 2022 and 2023 to accommodate her disability.
“One thing about Claire I learned, she was incredibly stubborn. When she set her mind to do something, she would absolutely do it. She was incredibly strong-willed.”
Lina Zilinskaite, Senior Producer for Atlantic Productions
Neither Lomas’s family nor her relatives attended the initial coroner’s hearing, with their legal representative, Ben Bradley KC, explaining that being present near the anniversary of her death proved too painful. The inquest into her death remains open and continues to examine the precise circumstances surrounding the final moments of the flight.
