A veteran who lost his legs and a hand in a roadside bombing is sailing all over the world.
Craig Wood was only 18 and serving in Afghanistan when a blast ripped his life apart.
He spent 14 days in a coma – and doctors watching his progress estimated his chances of coming through alive were 50/50.
Craig woke to find his left hand and both legs had been amputated. Yet when the Duchess of Cornwall visited him at a rehab centre he told her: “I’ll walk again.”
But the intrepid ex soldier, 27, did even better by becoming a sailor and is exploring the high seas alone on his 46ft yacht Sirius.
Now he is offering Sirius as a haven to fellow veterans who are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He left Gibraltar in April, 2017, and been on the water ever since, covering 800 miles.
He said: “I like travelling and sailing so it just made sense. I want to go round the world. I’ve got all the time I need. I’m still young.
“Once you’ve found happiness you don’t really tend to think about anything else.”
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Craig has been on a long and agonising journey since Afghanistan. The soldier with 2nd Battalion, The Rifles, was on his first patrol in Helmand Province on July 30, 2009, when the improvised device exploded. He became one of the youngest war casualties.
Craig, of Doncaster, South Yorkshire, was flown back to Selly Oak Hospital in Birmingham and needed 27 pints of blood to survive.
At the Defence Medical Rehabilitation Unit at Headley Court, near Epsom, Surrey, he met the Duchess of Cornwall and vowed to her that he would walk again.
It took him eight months to use prosthetic legs. He has had four-and-a-half years of rehab as well as ten ops on his face alone.
But despite his devastating injuries Craig said his offer to vets to join him aboard is more about company than need of an extra deckhand.
He said: “I can’t climb the mast on my own, or hold nuts and screw them, but when I haven’t got crew on board to help with the two-handed jobs I just find someone on another boat to jump aboard and help me out. I’m quite comfortable and content with my life. It’s not a struggle, because I’ve made it so it’s not a struggle. I’m happy on the boat.”
“I want to go to Brazil, Argentina and all over the Americas, the Caribbean and the west coast of the Americas and the Pacific.
“Anywhere you can think of that’s got a coastline, really. I’m still young in terms of sailing round the world.”
“In general now it’s not a struggle, it’s just specific things. But you figure out a way. Going round the boat is fairly easy – I’ve had no adaptations. It’s a bog-standard 46ft boat.” Craig’s journey has inspired scores of veterans through work with Blesma, the charity for limbless veterans. But he insists he does not see himself as a source of inspiration.
He said: “I’m just living my life. I understand my approach is not common.” And he has his family’s backing. His parents Paul and Lesley follow his travels through his Facebook page, sharing videos and pictures of his journey.
They visited him this summer. Craig, who lives off his Army pension, said recent stories of an increasing number of PTSD sufferers made him realise he may be able to help.
He said: “There are a hell of a lot of guys committing suicide now. So I put a Facebook post out a few months back inviting people aboard.
“A little bit of escapism is quite healthy, especially if it clears the mind. I was just trying to think how I could give back.
“One of the guys recently said it was the best laugh he’s had all year.” Craig said many veterans realise they have PTSD after they leave the Army.
He said: “From there it’s hard to get back up. A lot of the guys killing themselves have left the Army and the support network is not there. Then they just catch on a bit too late. It hits them all at once.
“A lot of people struggle with purpose. The boat is my purpose in my immediate life. When people don’t have that purpose they can get into a bad downward spiral.”
Next year he plans to release Less Than 10 Degrees, a book of his sea stories written by a close pal, to mark a decade since his injuries. But he can see no end to his adventures, and has no plans to drop anchor and stay put.
He said: “It’s not just a hobby or a gap year off. It’s my lifestyle. I’ve made a conscious choice to make it my future.
“I don’t think I’m going to get over this phase, unless I can’t sail and have to go back to land. I’ve not really thought about it.”
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