This story is sure to leave a smile on your face. Scottish teen Ally Chalmers was a competitive ski racer until an accident left him paralyzed. But even without the use of his legs, Chalmers fought his way back to racing. He swapped his skis for a Mini Cooper and set a record.

Chalmers admits, “I’ve always loved competing.” But after his accident, he wasn’t interested in adaptive sports—he wanted to compete with everyone else. Before the crash, he’d enjoyed go-karts but had never competed. The more he thought about it, the more motorsports appealed to him.

“With other sports there are specialist groups for a reason, but with racing there’s no need if you have a hand-controlled car.”

Scottish teen ditches his wheelchair to race a Mini Cooper

So Chalmers and his family built a race-ready Mini Cooper with hand controls. He says, “It’s taken a lot of hard work and I’ve had the support of so many people.” But much of the work fell to Chalmers. For example, he had to train to escape his car in less than 10 seconds—without the use of his legs—to prove he was prepared for a crash or fire. He admits the path he chose is “definitely not an easy ride.”

Chalmers’ challenges were huge—but so was his payoff. He became the first wheelchair-using driver in Scotland to pass the Association of Racing Drivers test. Then he debuted against fully able-bodied adult drivers in the Scottish Mini Cooper Cup at Knockhill in Fife.

“I’m younger than a lot of the other drivers, so I’m proud of how the race went.”

Halfway through his first season, Chalmers is hooked. “The adrenaline’s quite fun… Getting back into sport after my accident has been huge for me.”

Chalmers adds, “I’ve always loved competing.” He has his sights set high. Next, he hopes to join Team Brit—a motorsports team made entirely of disabled racing drivers, which is planning a run at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

You can see Chalmers driving for yourself in the video embedded below: