Claire Lomas has given birth to her second child — a baby girl.
The inspirational former event rider and her husband Dan welcomed Chloe, weighing 5lb 7oz, to the world a month early on Tuesday (24 January).
Claire shared her thanks to Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) in Nottingham, the maternity ward and the NHS that night.
“Relieved and delighted Chloe has arrived — so grateful to the NHS and all the staff at QMC — and that vasa previa was diagnosed,” she said.
Vasa previa is a condition where one or more of the baby’s placental or umbilical blood vessels cross beneath the baby at the entrance to the birth canal. It can be fatal for the baby if undiagnosed and the correct medical help is not given before the birth.
Fortunately Claire’s condition was picked up on a scan and Chloe was safely delivered by cesarean section on Tuesday evening.
Her elder daughter Maisie, five, has been to visit and is “over the moon” with her new sister.
Maisie meet her little sis and is very happy! When I became paralysed I never thought these 2 would be poss 🙂 pic.twitter.com/sEtJSfcaL0
— Claire Lomas MBE (@claire80lomas) January 25, 2017
Claire was appointed MBE in the New Year’s Honours List and is due to visit Buckingham Palace on 28 February for the investiture.
The Dorchester has also pledged to give Claire and her family two complimentary rooms on her trip to London.
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About Claire
Claire was a chiropractor and an international event rider, competing frequently at three-star level with her top horses and had a string of young up-and-coming eventers.
On 6 May 2007, she hit a tree while on the cross-country at Osberton Horse Trials and broke her neck, dislocated her back, punctured a lung and developed pneumonia. The accident left her paralysed from the chest down.
Since then, she has completed a number of gruelling challenges to raise money for spinal research.
Claire walked the London Marathon in 2012 wearing a bionic reWalk suit; in 2013 she completed a 400-mile hand cycle around the UK; and in 2016 she walked the Vitality London 10000 route and took part in the 13.1 mile Great North Run. She has also learnt to ski and ride a motorbike.
The mother-of-two has raised more than £575,000 for spinal research and is a patron of the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.
