Chris Moon MBE

The Speaker who walks the talk Chris Moons remarkable life story is one of consistently overcoming incredible odds. Working for a charity clearing land mines in Cambodia he is one of the few westerners ever to survive being captured by the notorious Khmer Rouge, not only negotiating himself out of his own execution but also thatof his two colleagues.

Clearing mines in Mozambique in 1995 he was blown up whilst walking through a ‘cleared’ area and lost both his lower right leg and right arm. Not only did he survive this ordeal when many thought he would not, but through sheer determination and an insurmountable will to succeed, he was competing in the London Marathon less than one year after this appalling accident.

Not to be content with this he has since competed in dozens of marathons. In April 1997 he was the first leg amputee to complete the 250km Great Sahara Run described as the toughest footrace on earth. Competitors run for six days in the heat and sand of the Sahara. They carry their own food, equipment and sleeping bag and have to be self sufficient for the week. He ran to raise £100,000 for an International Committee of the Red Cross centre providing false limbs in Vietnam, to push the bounds of prosthetics further and to challenge the concept of limitation. In July 1997 he ran 200 km in four days with the Australian Army to assist mine victims.

He usually runs to raise funds for charities assisting the disabled and carried the Olympic torch into the stadium in the Nagano Winter Olympics in Japan in February 1998. He ran from Hakone to Tokyo to raise funds for a Japanese charity.

Born in Wiltshire in May 1962. He studied Agriculture at Seale Hayne College Newton Abbot (now Plymouth University faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology). Believing in Service he worked as a volunteer at a centre for the homeless and then joined the army. On leaving the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Royal Military Police and also served with several infantry units.

After leaving hospital he did a Masters Degree in Security Management at the University of Leicester. In 1996 he was awarded MBE for services to the HALO Trust clearing anti-personnel mines. In 1998 he was awarded the US Centre for Disability and PALM international leadership award. In March 1999 he was awarded the Snowdon Special Award for leadership and help to the disabled by Lord Snowdon. He has been awarded honorary degrees by the universities of Plymouth, Leicester and Exeter.

His work now involves putting together presentations for businesses on subjects such as motivation, change management, leadership and teamwork. The experience, enthusiasm and profound nature of his presentations is as relevant to board members as well as sales staff and management teams.

As well as presenting to some of the most well known PLC’s in the business community, Chris appears regulary in the media. His numerous television, newspaper and radio appearances include being interviewed on The Parkinson Show.