Heroic runner finishes London Marathon after breaking her hip

A heroic runner managed to finish the London Marathon despite breaking her hip at the 22nd mile of the notoriously gruelling course.

Kim Lappin, 29, made it across the finish line with her family and friends on Sunday, after tackling the final four miles on crutches.

Kim, from Kingsthorpe, Northampton, noticed a growing pain throughout the race – up until the moment she was unable to lift her foot at the 22nd mile.

‘I was devastated. I didn’t think I would be able to finish’, she recalled to the Northampton Chronicle.

‘Luckily, the St John’s Ambulance team were nearby. They were amazing. They thought I had a broken hip. They said it was fairly common in long-distance runners.’

Miraculously, the injury did little to stop Kim – she called on the support of her family who brought her a pair of crutches from her aunt’s home.

‘My fiancee walked with me and in the last mile all my family and friends joined me’, she explained.

‘At the finish line all the crowds were cheering. They had a wheelchair waiting for me and I was taken straight to hospital.’

Kim, who has now had her hip pinned, crossed the line in eight hours and 44 minutes.