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

After the army he worked for a British charity specialising in mine clearance. They recruited a wide range of ex-servicemen, most with two years operational experience. After specialist training from a Royal Engineer bomb disposal officer he supervised and trained former Cambodian soldiers in mine clearance, something described by many as the ultimate leadership and management challenge. He is one of the few westerners to have survived abduction by the Khmer Rouge, successfully preventing execution and negotiating his release and that of two Cambodian colleagues from a remote jungle base, finally marching 50km overnight through patrolled and mined jungle.

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 and doctorates by the universities of Plymouth, Leicester and Exeter.

Less than a year after leaving hospital he completed the London Marathon to raise funds for mine injured in Cambodia. 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.