Craig Lundberg’s suffered horrific injuries which nearly ended his life
17:00, 09 Jun 2025Updated 17:51, 09 Jun 2025
Dad Craig Lundberg, 39, with his son Max, nine(Image: Craig Lundberg)
An ex-soldier who was blinded by grenades in Iraq has been challenged by his young son to take on a huge undertaking. Craig Lundberg, 39, will be trekking up five of the British Isles biggest mountains with his nine-year-old son in just five days.
The challenge might sound tough enough, but for the dad-of-three, who is originally from Walton Vale but now living in Mossley Hill, it’ll be an even bigger feat as he is completely blind.
In 2007, on his second tour of Iraq, Craig was dispatched as part of a team to arrest terrorists in Iraq when his team came under attack. He was hit by two rocket propelled grenades usually used for targeting helicopters or armoured vehicles .
Craig suffered horrific injuries that nearly ended his life and left him completely blind, yet, the 37-year-old managed to get up and tried to carry on fighting. He would later receive a bravery award for his conduct that day.
Evacuated to hospital, he was placed in an induced coma and required metal plates in his face and left arm and plastic surgery to piece him back together. But eighteen years later Craig has taken on numerous challenges including marathons, climbing Kilimanjaro and walking Hadrian’s Wall for charities.
Speaking to the ECHO Craig, who shares three children, Ben, 13, Max, nine and Sofia, seven, with his partner, Nicola Carter, 36, said: “When my oldest son, Ben, turned nine me and him walked Hadrian’s Wall for charity. Now his brother, Max, has turned nine he turned round and asked me ‘dad what can we do?’
Craig Lundberg was hit by by two rocket propelled grenades and was blinded in the 2007 attack
“He is very competitive, especially with his older brother. He’d asked to do Hadrian’s Wall with me first but I told him no because it would turn into too much of a competition between them. So then I had to think of something we could do together.”
The dad added: “I decided we should do the three-peaks challenge, but then thought well if we are doing three, we may as well do all five because we will be over half way.”
Craig and Max will be trekking five of the biggest peaks in the British Isles next month to raise money for charity. They will start by tackling Ben Nevis on July 3, before heading to Wales to take on Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) on Craig’s 40th birthday, July 4. They will finish the challenge three days later in Ireland, where they will hike over 3,400ft up Carrauntoohil.
He said: “One of the biggest challenges we face, despite the physical challenge is the travel time in between mountains. To get from Snowdon to Scafell Pike, which is the third peak we will go up, it’s a three and a half hour drive. Then we will have to get ferries in between too. It’s a mountain every day.”
And, on top of this, Craig is “totally blind.” He said: “We will be doing it all with my guide Callum, who is my friend, and Deborah. Being totally blind is hard but we have just got to do what we have got to do.
“I joined the army at 16, it’s awkward but I deal with what I deal with. It’s what Max wants to do so as a dad I have to try and make it happen. The next challenge will be when Sofia turns nine, I’m looking forward to what she will want to do.”
He added: “I’m so proud of him wanting to do all these things for charity, he was spurred on by his older brother. It’s nice getting to spend dad and lad time doing things like this.
“We have a lot of conversation together when there is hours and hours of walking. It’s nice, quiet time, spending time together as a dad and lad.
“Last week we did a massive training week. Me and Max did 37 miles with 11,000ft of elevation. It was good to get him the experience but we had walked in the not so good weather and he was cold, wet and he realised potentially how tough its going to be and it’s out of our control. We’re going to dig deep, we’re ready for the hard work.”
Craig and Max will be taking on the challenge to raise money for Centre 56, a charity of Max’s choice which helps families and children in “one of the most deprived areas of the country” and “who are less fortunate than himself.” You can donate to their fundraiser here.