I think the whole point is that she is not a national hero!
I like the idea of it because it calls into question our view of why we celebrate people - great public ar-leading men, or people who represent the ordinary day-to-day spirit of our country and society, and i thik it calls into question our boundaries of beauty.
Alison Lapper herself did a series of self-portraits based on our acceptance of so many 'armless' classical statues as beautiful, and Marc Quinn is interested in human beauty wherever it is found.
I don't think the 'disability rights' in a social sense is the point of having this statue.
I might tend to agree with the critic who said it looked 'slimy' - but I'm hoping to go and look at it later this afternoon, so i'll let you know what I think!
I also liked Rachel Whiteread's plinth statue.