A former professional footballer left unable to work due to panic attacks after being diagnosed with a devastating heart condition will launch a campaign to offer north Wales employees support for their mental health.

Ian Benbow, managing director of Social Impact Company Case-UK Limited, has teamed up with social enterprise RCS (Rhyl City Strategy) to create a single point of contact for employers, GPs, health professionals and employees to access free workplace health support.

It means any employees in north Wales who need help to cope with a problem affecting their mental health in work, such as low mood, anxiety or depression, can approach RCS for support.

Ian, 46, a former striker with Hereford United FC and Telford United FC, set up Case-UK Limited after suffering severe anxiety attacks following a diagnosis of Hypertrophic Cardio-myopathy, an hereditary heart condition which causes Sudden Adult Death.

Five years ago, the dad-of-three had a defibrillator fitted in his chest and saw the benefit of the device six month later when it shocked him as his heart was failing in work.

He says it was only when he admitted the trauma had severely affected his mental health, that he began to recover enough to cope with the thoughts of working again.

“The device shocked me twice, the first time it went off I didn’t feel a thing as I was in a meeting with my manager and I collapsed and therefore unaware of the shock until I sat up, however, I received a second shock as my heart hadn’t regulated properly which shot me across the room."

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