Captain Craig shows how he sets sail

Craig Wood lost both his legs and an arm when he was blown up by a roadside bomb while serving in Afghanistan. He was just 18.

"I joined Blesma as soon as I was injured in 2009 – they were by my bedside from the very beginning. They’ve helped me out with practical things, like adaptations to my house, and they’ve been there with emotional support, too. Blesma has given me the strength to move forwards with my life, and I’m incredibly grateful to them for that."

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. 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.

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. I’m just living my life. I understand my approach is not common.” .

Now Craig has set off to sail around the world, and he won't be putting down his anchor anytime soon!

“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.” said Craig.