HE'S suffered with anxiety for six years, but Charlie King's found a way to tackle it – go karting.

The 14-year-old finds speeding around the track is the best therapy for him. And he's won a haul of trophies along the way.

Charlie, who attends Riverside Centre in Swindon, which helps vulnerable and anxious children, said: “When I’m driving, I’m focusing so much on it that I don’t have time to think and I don’t get anxious.”

His mum Kimberly King said: “We have struggled to get a diagnosis and help and he started go karting, which helped him massively.

"The waiting lists have been ridiculous, and it helped him get through the hurdles in life.”

What started off as going to Swindon Karting Arena at Wroughton Airfield to watch races aged six went on to became his hobby, now it is the teenager's main focus.

But it hasn’t all be smooth sailing as Charlie had a panic attack and crashed into a wall at 40mph in one race.

Charlie, who miraculously escaped uninjured, said: “It didn’t hurt to begin with because of the adrenaline but I felt it the next day.

"I had a panic attack and I couldn’t breathe. I just couldn’t get myself to breath.”

In the next race he could not get his kart to start and then he got around two corners before it gave out. But this did not stop Charlie from getting back on the track as he was determined to finish a race.

Now he has passed his novice plates and is hoping to race in national British competitions.

He is working his way there as he will be racing at the Maxxis TKM Festival in August.

Kimberly said: “This is really good for him. It’s his life. It’s what he lives for it has helped him with his friendships. It's done more than therapy and school. It has made him become a young man.”

Charlie said: “Just crashing into someone I managed to get a friendship out of it. People are nice. There they always give advice if those people weren’t there I wouldn’t be where I am. I wouldn’t be able to do it. They are the reason I’ve been able to get faster and better.”

Kimberly has set up a crowdfunding page to raise £2,000 for Charlie to get a new engine to help him compete at the top level. To help, go to justgiving.com/crowdfunding/k-king-1?utm_id=106&utm_term=g2NjGWDDv