I lost three limbs in Afghanistan then made history sailing for 90 days alone across the Pacific
If Craig Wood has got any advice to us lot, it's to 'sail your own ocean'.
And that goes a long way towards explaining how he became the first triple amputee to cruise solo across the Pacific Ocean, setting two Guinness World Records in the process.
Ahead of the release of his aptly named film, Single Handed - which documents his extraordinary 90-day voyage - Craig told LADbible how he hopes his incredible feat 'changes mindsets' about the capabilities of disabled people.
The British Army veteran, 35, now has two record-breaking achievements under his belt, which is something that he 'never expected' to attain while he was growing up in Doncaster.
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But his life plans were thrown into disarray when he was just 18-years-old and three months into living his dream of serving for the UK's armed forces.
Craig lost both of his legs above the knee and his left hand when a roadside bomb exploded while he was out on a routine patrol in 2009.
"I was one of the youngest injured in Afghanistan," Craig told LADbible. "Most people that age are just going out on the p**s or are going into university...and I was in a hospital trying to figure out if I was ever going to be able to walk again, if I was ever going to be able to hug my mum and dad again, or play the guitar."
Ultimately, the former rifleman lost 27 pints of blood, suffered a collapsed lung, underwent more than a dozen operations, spent a fortnight in a coma, suffered severe facial injuries and lost three limbs.
Craig confessed that both the mental and physical aspects of his recovery were 'really hard', as was coming to terms with the fact that his life had changed forever.
'The hardest part for me was acceptance'
"I think the hardest part of it for me was acceptance," he said. "Like this actually happened, this is now my life."
This journey to making peace with his new reality later ended up inspiring Craig to defy the odds once again and embark on a historic expedition across the Pacific Ocean.
It took Craig eight months to learn to walk again, before he then spent four-and-a-half years adhering to a gruelling rehabilitation routine.
He found solace in sailing, a hobby his dad had introduced him to as a child, and subsequently decided to set himself a seemingly impossible challenge.
On 25 March last year, the married father-of-four set sail for a non-stop 7,500 nautical mile jaunt from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, to Hiroshima, Japan - all in the name of raising money for the charities that helped him during the darker chapters of his life, and in order to dispel the idea that disabled people can't do 'cool stuff' like this.
Craig climbed onboard his 41-foot catamaran, Sirius II, which he and his Swiss wife Renate call home alongside their four kids, and bid them farewell.
Armed with seven years of sailing experience, 10kg of rice, 50 packs of spaghetti, 100 tins of beans and 50 tins each of tuna, chicken and Spam - among other supplies to sustain himself - he then headed off for 90-days of solitude.
Singlehanded shows how Craig had to 'learn new techniques on the fly' when he ran into issues with the boats engine, almost lost a £3,000 sail and battled some unforgiving weather conditions.
One 'mid-ocean moment' that remains firmly stuck in his mind is when he broke his prosthetic arm while he was stranded in the middle of the sea - although he managed to patch it up 'after a few hours'.
Craig told LADbible that as well as picking up a host of new skills, he also 'learned quite a lot about himself' during his record-breaking voyage, as he spent a lot of time reflecting on how far he has come since 2009.
Spending 90 days solo at sea
"You just start thinking and thinking and thinking...you don't usually get that in normal life, where you are completely isolated for 90 days and you don't really speak or talk to anyone in person," Craig explained.
"It gave me a moment to appreciate how resilient I have been. It still tested me in ways that really pushed me to my limit, but most of it was the mental side. The physical side is fine, you expect it to be a difficult thing."
Missing his wife and four children proved one of the toughest parts of the journey for Craig, as he said: "The kids are on the phone crying and saying, 'Daddy, when are you coming back?' I'm in the middle of the Pacific, I can't do anything...it was just heartbreaking."
Craig proudly declared that his catamaran is 'minimally adapted' and said he'd bet that even the most skilled sailors wouldn't be able to spot the modifications.
"I never did this type of sailing when I was able-bodied, so all I do is via a Craig method of sailing, which is mostly through trial and error," he laughed.
"The beauty of sailing is it's all ropes and pulleys...all I have done is adapt my technique."
Thousands of people have already watched Singlehanded since it made its YouTube debut on Tuesday (3 November) - and Craig hopes his experience will show people that there is no such word as can't.
"I'm obviously quite disabled, but I am still doing all this cool stuff that a lot of people would go, 'There's no way you can do that'," he went on. "
"If I'd have said told my dad ten years ago that I'm going to sail across the ocean on my own, he would have said, 'Absolutely no way, not possible'. But I've changed my dad's mindset on what is possible now."
Craig continued: "It's nice to show that just because you're disabled, it doesn't mean you have a skill set that isn't worthy of showing. It doesn't mean that you can't do stuff.
"Don't let people tell you no if you haven't tried to do it. Try. You'll figure out a way.
"I like to say this - 'sail your own ocean'. Whatever ocean that is, metaphorically. As long as you're living your life how you want to, you're sailing your own ocean."
Comically, when he finally sailed into Hiroshima on 24 June, 2025, Craig confessed he didn't exactly 'know how to celebrate' reaching the finish line, as it was 'so overwhelming'.
Craig became the first triple amputee to cross an ocean solo in history, as well as becoming the first triple amputee to cross the Pacific Ocean solo.
On top of that, he has raised more than £65,000 for Blesma, a charity which helps veterans who have lost limbs, and Turn to Starboard, which helps former military members start sailing.
You can take a look at Single Handed here.
Topics: Army, Guinness World Record, Originals, UK News
Olivia Burke
