A FORMER policeman who, suffered post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after he was attacked while on duty, kayaked nearly 300 miles from London to Burnley to raise awareness of the condition.

John Wilson was a police officer with the British Transport Police in London when he was hospitalised after the incident in 2008.

The 56-year-old, who now lives in Ightenhill, Burnley, had to take six months off work to recover, but the trauma stayed with him and he eventually gave up work after suffering depression, anxiety and nightmares.

A heart-attack on Scafell Park in the Lake District in 2012 also left him suffering depression.

Mr Wilson decided to take on the challenge of navigating the country's canals in a bid to raise awareness of PTSD within the emergency services, something a lot of his colleagues suffered after dealing with the 7/7 terrorist attacks in the capital.

The father-of-four, who has just completed a degree in health and applied social studies, started his challenge at Lambeth Bridge on August 15 where he was escorted up the Thames by police and the fire service before travelling up the Grand Union Canal and Manchester Ship Canal arriving in Burnley 13 days later in time for the Burnley Canal Festival.

He said: "The heart attack came as a result of stress that I was experiencing through the PTSD. That was a turning point when I realised I needed to make drastic changes to my life. I was spiralling out of control.

"PTSD999 is a new charity supporting emergency services. The condition within the military has been highlighted, but within the emergency services it has been overlooked. They experience trauma everyday. I think people just assume it is part of the job, which is right to a certain extent, but it is the drip effect.

"After the assault my behaviour changed. It cost me my marriage.

"I suffered depression, anxiety, flashbacks and nightmares."

Although no stranger to challenges having cycled 3,000 miles from Burnley to Greece and completed the Three Peaks challenge to raise money for charity, Mr Wilson had never kayaked that far before.

"The highlight was kayaking up the Thames. I never thought I would be able to do that," he said.

"I knew I was going to encounter lock systems, but I did not realise how many. It is more than 127 on the Grand Union canal. I had to take my kayak out of the water and some of the embankments were two to three feet out of the water. That really was difficult."

He managed to cover 25 to 30 miles a day camping along the way.

"I was quite shell-shocked when I realised I had done it. At the canal festival there was a fantastic reception," he said.

"I wanted to show for people who have heart problems or mental health issues it is not the end of the world. You can achieve things."