Craig Wood

Craig Wood – World’s first triple amputee to sail across the Pacific solo and unsupported

Background

In 2024 Sway PR was contacted by Craig Wood to help launch his plans to become the world’s first triple amputee to sail solo, non-stop and unsupported across the Pacific Ocean. His aim – to highlight that disability should not hold you back and to raise money for two charities that meant a lot to him – Blesma and Turn to Starboard.

Craig lost both legs and his left hand in an IED blast in Afghanistan in 2009, July 30^th. His face was also ravaged by shrapnel. Waking up 14 days later from an induced coma, nothing would ever be the same again.

It took eight months for Craig to learn to walk again and four-and-a-half years of rehabilitation work at the dedicated Headley Court facility in Surrey to improve his quality of life.

Back home as a triple-amputee, he returned to the hobby his father had shared with him as a child on their family trips to Bridlington – sailing.

Craig set off from Puerto Vallarta in Mexico on 25^th March at 16.45 UK time and on 24^th June 2025 at 1am (BST) the 34-year-old arrived in Hiroshima, Japan gaining two world records:

• the world’s first to complete a solo ocean crossing as a triple amputee
• the world’s first triple amputee to complete a Pacific Ocean crossing

Brief
Sway PR was asked to drive as much awareness as possible in the media around Craig’s record-breaking journey and landmark of being the world’s first triple amputee to sail solo and unsupported across the Pacific.

Strategy
The campaign was split into three phases. The first was to invite media to interview Craig before he set off on his expedition. The second was to arrange remote interviews from the boat when Craig was at the halfway point of his journey and the third was to arrange first interviews with Craig from the finish line in Japan.

All interviews were managed from the UK and focused on top tier media and regional media in and around Doncaster, where Craig is originally from.

Outcome
The Sway PR team wrote a news release for each stage of his journey and pitched his story out to media inviting them to interview him. Each release included updates about Craig’s day-to-day life on the boat, how he was feeling and how many nautical miles he had covered. He sent regular voice note and photo updates to the team to facilitate this.

What the client said

Crag Wood (veteran, adventurer and fundraiser) said:

“When I first met up with Sway PR they guided me through the media interview process and gave me some media training.

“From there, they utilised all of their network, got me onto the best shows that were going to widen my reach and achieve the best impact for what I was doing.

“The interviews and coverage they got me equated to a rise in donations to my chosen charities.

“I fully recommend using Sway PR as they will get you the best outcome and in front of the desired networks and audience.

“They’re very accommodating and helpful. If you don’t know much about interviews, like I didn’t, they will hold your hand through it.

“It’s been such a pleasant and welcoming experience to work with them.

“Truly – without their help and expertise I wouldn’t have  succeeded in my fundraising so it’s thanks to them and their skillset that I was able to complete my task.”