British Armed Forces Rifleman, Craig Wood, who lost both legs and a hand in Afghanistan has launched an attempt to sail round the world.
Now 26 years old Craig Wood, was 18 and just three months into his first deployment, when he was caught in a Taliban bomb blast on his first foot patrol.
All he remembers of the incident was a white flash and his friend running towards him before he blacked out. When he awoke in hospital at Bastion Base he learned he had lost both legs and his left forearm.
A keen sailor since the age of six, Craig spent the next eight years learning to live with his injuries and part of his recovery plan was the idea to compete as a sailor at the Paralympics in 2020 Tokyo games. Those plans were scuppered when the sport was dropped from the list.
So he and Liam Cattermole a blind sailor he befriended in the Paralympic squad during 2015 are planning to sail around the world in Never Ending Story, a well-found Colvic 40 sailing yacht.
They will be joined by Nicole Cameron, a former army dog-handler, who will bring with her, her dog Tweedy.
The team are currently in the Algarve in Portugal. They now plan to spend the rest of the year exploring the Mediterranean before sailing across the Atlantic.
Before joining the army, Craig had grown up windsurfing and dinghy sailing and, following his recovery, he put a team together and spent three seasons sailing a Sonar three-man keelboat. This led him into sailing larger yachts and the purchase of Never Ending Story, which, with a little help from Fox’s Marina & Boatyard, has been refitted to sail around the world.
Fox’s has assisted with fitting new radar and plotter, various other modifications to electronics, new batteries, stainless frame and solar panels plus hauling for seacocks and stern gear service.