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Injured veteran
Craig unlocks
new career after
support from
Help for Heroes
A veteran soldier, whose Army career
was cut short when a debilitating back
injury made it impossible for him to
continue in the military, has set up
his own business as a locksmith.
Craig Donaghue, a former
Green Howards soldier from
Middlesbrough, first injured
his back in 2003 but carried
on serving until the injury
and pain made it impossible
for him to do so. He
underwent a spinal fusion in
2010, followed by three more
operations and was then
discharged from the Army in
February, 2013.
Now Craig, who saw
action in Northern Ireland,
Bosnia and Afghanistan,
has retrained as a locksmith
and recently set up his
own business called Key
Commander Locksmiths,
covering Teesside and
surrounding areas.
And, only weeks after its
launch, business is booming!
‘I was depressed
and taking my
frustrations out
on the family’
The 33-year-old credits the
support he received from the
Help for Heroes Northern run
Recovery Centre, Phoenix
House, for getting him to the
stage where he was able to
think about a new career.
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“Before I started coming to
Phoenix House in Catterick, I
was depressed and taking out
my frustrations on the family.
Now I am doing so much
more, getting out and about
and I’m happier because my
mood is better,” he said.
He has completed a
variety of courses at the
Centre, including CV writing,
computer skills and joined in
with Life Skills classes such as
cookery and woodwork, which
all helped him to prepare for
the future.
Craig, who lives with his
partner Lucy, daughter Lillie,
nine, and step-children
Courtney, 17, and Shaun,
21, recently had a pain
relief implant fitted which
has greatly improved the
discomfort he feels in his legs
and enabled him to set up his
own business.
“I do all sorts,” he said. “I get
call outs for gaining entry into
domestic and commercial
premises, car lock outs, key
cutting, replacing locks as well
as boarding up properties.”
Craig trained through the
Train Locksmiths College
in Leigh, near Wigan, and is
level three qualified. He used
his resettlement pay from the
Army to fund the course and
bought the equipment through
the college before taking
the plunge to set up his own
business.
‘I love the
work – it’s very
flexible and I like
helping people’
He said: “It was about trying
to find a job I could do and
also be self-employed. It’s
very flexible and I can work it
around my back pain. It is going
very well and I have been very
bu