Triple amputee aims to be first to sail Pacific non-stop, solo and unsupported
Former British Army rifleman Craig Wood lost both legs and his left arm in an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2009.
A triple amputee is aiming to become the first to sail across the Pacific Ocean non-stop, solo and unsupported to “change the perception of what is possible as a disabled person”.
Craig Wood, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, is a former British Army rifleman who was just 18 years old when he lost both legs and his left hand in an IED (improvised explosive device) blast in Afghanistan in 2009. He also suffered facial injuries from shrapnel.
The 33-year-old father-of-two spent 14 days in an induced coma, saying that when he awoke “the emotion from my family was probably one of the hardest things” to see.
Mr Wood said he “started crying quite a lot” due to his injuries but logic imparted from his mother – who said “after you’ve done all of the crying, what are you going to do?” – hit him “like a sledgehammer” and he refocused his energy on being “the best triple amputee (he could) possibly be”.
He is now hoping to set a new world record by sailing his 41ft aluminium catamaran from La Paz in Mexico to Yokohama in Japan, starting between January and March 2025, in a mammoth journey which will cover 6,000 nautical miles and take around 80 days to complete.
With his challenge, Mr Wood is fundraising for two charities who have supported him – Blesma, a military charity for limbless veterans and Turn to Starboard, an organisation that uses sailing courses to support those affected by military operations.
“I wanted to break the world record and I wanted it to be a challenge, not just for myself, but for an able-bodied person as well,” Mr Wood told the PA news agency.
“If we assume that amputees or disabled people cannot do something, then that’s instilled in the disabled person and they cannot do it – that needs to change.
