How amputee Craig is helping others with fitness and mental wellbeing after serious road accident

“I was unable to sleep very well and I just started crying on my own in this dark cubicle thinking what am I going to do now?” recalls the 33-year-old father from Barnsley.

"How am I going to get past this? Are people going to see me differently? I was going through it for about an hour in my head.”

And then it clicked. “I realised I needed to move forward and just start dealing with things as they come.”

Nearly two years later, Craig has qualified as a personal trainer and has set his sights on inspiring others.

Having launched his business just weeks ago, he hopes to work with other amputees and people with disabilities, among other clients.

“I was lucky after having my accident in that I knew someone who had worked with an amputee before, but I didn’t know other PTs who specialised in that.

"Having been through it, I have more understanding of how to help others in a similar situation – and that’s the goal moving forward.”

Beyond physical fitness, Craig also hopes to encourage resilience and positive mental wellbeing in others, through a series of motivational talks.

He has already been invited to talk about his experiences with students at Barnsley College, covering topics such as mental health strategies, psychological theories, motivation and personal training and exercise for specific populations.

“It’s taken a lot of effort, but I’m physically fitter and stronger than before the accident,” he says. “But I’ve not just developed my physical fitness.

“The challenges I've faced due to the accident and the adjustments required to embrace a new way of life with my prosthetic have helped me build my psychological resilience.

"It’s allowed me to stay on top of my mental health and wellbeing and keep a positive attitude. Now, I want to help others. Even if I can help just one person overcome adversity, I will consider it a huge success.”

Before the accident, Craig lived an active lifestyle, spending time at the gym most days each week, as well as being an avid kickboxer and participating in endurance events such as the Fan Dance – a 15-mile load-bearing walk across the Welsh mountains – and the Three Peaks challenge for charity.

He and wife Alice, who at the time of the accident was five months pregnant, had returned from holidaying in Portugal just days before tragedy struck in November 2021.

That day, Craig was not alone in his cab, taking a new starter on the road with him for his shift. They had made a delivery in the Doncaster area when the lorry was involved in a serious head-on collision.

Craig was trapped inside the vehicle for almost an hour before being airlifted to Leeds General Infirmary. He knew instantly his right foot had been crushed. It was unable to be saved.

After just eight days in hospital, in Leeds and then Sheffield’s Northern General, Craig was discharged home, where he has since focused on his physical and psychological rehabilitation.

“The mental side was quite tough because I’m missing half my leg,” he says. “It’s a very big thing going back out into public…

"It was quite difficult. People do look, they do stare and it is quite uncomfortable but you just have to accept this is you now and deal with it no matter what. You have to make the best of a bad situation.

“I do believe everything happens for a reason, whether it’s good or bad," Craig says. “I do believe at some point in life, whether three months, three years or 30 years down the line, there’ll be a reason why I’ve lost my leg.”

As a result of his injuries, Craig was unable to return to work in his previous capacity as a driver and his company instead found him a role as an administrator, a position he maintained until the recent launch of his PT business in Mapplewell.

He has been given legal assistance from national law firm Thompsons Solicitors, securing compensation cash which has helped to pay for amputee rehabilitation services and a spacious, single-level adapted home to meet his needs.

“I can now look to the future with my partner and young daughter, safe in the knowledge that I’ll be able to enjoy a good quality of life and that we are financially secure as a family,” he says.

Instead of denting his love for demanding physical activities, the challenging nature of his injuries has made him even more determined to continue his active lifestyle – and he’s doing so whilst supporting good causes too.

In September last year, he climbed Mount Snowdon in Wales, raising cash for local charities and has recently taken part once again in the Fan Dance challenge for the first time since his accident.

"I guess I feel like I have got a point to prove, not to anybody else really, but to myself, that I can still do everything I did before,” he reflects.

"I think it’s that which gives me the drive to keep going. It’s to show I am as capable as I was before – and to help others in the process is great.”