A BRAIN tumour survivor and former frontline Army officer is to walk across Scotland to support the Disasters Emergency Committee’s appeal for victims of the Indonesian tsunami.

Archie Douglas, from Edinburgh, has twice served in Afghanistan with the Royal Regiment of Scotland.

He has made a remarkable recovery with the help of pioneering surgery and aggressive radio and chemotherapy but the neurological side effects mean he is currently unable to work.

Instead he has decided to put all his efforts into his personal therapy regime of a strict balanced daily lifestyle along with walking, learning to act, sing and play golf – all in an effort to raise funds for the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

Starting today, Douglas will set off from Bowling on the Clyde in West Dunbartonshire and walk the length of the Forth/Clyde and Union Canals, arriving in Edinburgh on Friday – a total distance of 63 miles over three days.

Before setting off, Douglas said: “Fundraising for the Disasters Emergency Committee to help save the lives and improve the life chances of thousands of people in communities ravaged by disaster gives me a purpose.”

On day one, Douglas will be passing through Clydebank, Glasgow, and Kirkintilloch. On day two, he will pass Falkirk and Polmont and on his third day he will finish at the end of the Union Canal at Fountainbridge in Edinburgh.

More than £1.3 million has been raised for the appeal in Scotland.