Carl Finnborg grew up in Närke in a real sports family. In the 1990s, he was a sports guy and played several sports. Above all, he was a good skater. So good that he competed in both the EC and SM, and the future as a skater looked bright.
But a future as a professional skater was not for Carl Finnborg. At a young age he suffered from rheumatism, which put an end to his career. Then he took his pick and pack and moved to London to train as a bodyguard.
For almost ten years, he supported himself by traveling the world protecting everyone from royalty, to business leaders, diplomats and artists. Among other things, the former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher and the rap star 50 Cent are two that Carl has guarded.
But the success had a price on Carl Finnborg’s health. In the fall of 2009 came the longing for a quieter life. Then he stopped working as a bodyguard and moved back home to Sweden.
– I wanted a Volvo, villa and doggie around when I moved home from London. I felt ready then and my rheumatism was pretty tough. I was ready for it but it wasn’t what life wanted. Life wanted me to experience even more. More resistance and friction.
Brutal attack
Resistance and friction finally got him. In 2012, his life took a completely new turn, to say the least.
– I had met a new girl, and was actually there to make a good impression on someone. That was my mindset that day, a sunny late summer day. It was full of people, lots of children.
In a playground, he was subjected, in broad daylight, to a brutal attack where he was shot in both legs and had acid thrown in his face.
– I ended up lying on the hill and looking down at my feet which were pointing in every direction because both femurs were shot off. I got direct shots into my knees and acid in my face.
Carl Finnborg does not want to go into more detail about who carried out the attack, or why, but he remembers the sequence of events very clearly.
– I remember people tearing their children up from swings. There was commotion in the park. People ran for their lives. It was shots that hit me, but also cars and house walls. Then a car came very quickly and picked up the shooter.
He continues:
– Then a car came very quickly and picked up the shooter. Then an unknown man came up to me afterwards, when I was lying waiting for an ambulance and lying looking down so it wasn’t an arterial bleed.
The man who came forward gave Carl a Ramlösa, which he then first took a sip from because he had gotten acid in his mouth. Then he used the rest to wash the acid off his face. He believes it saved him from going completely blind.
A life of operations
The attack cost him sight in one eye, hearing in one ear and a lifetime of surgeries.
– I am still having surgery since that day. And will continue to be operated on for a long time to come.
The skin he has on one side of his face comes from his arms, after transplantation.
– That’s why I only have a beard on one side.
“Like an old 240”
Today, Carl Finnborg is doing well mentally, and is trying to do the best he can with his situation.
– Mentally, I am stronger than ever.
On the other hand, he compares his body to a rusty old car.
– The body feels like an old taped-together 240. New indicators and quite a lot of spare parts. I have marrow spikes in both legs and neck surgery. But the soul is strong and whoever drives the car is good.
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