Paralysed driver tapes his foot to accelerator to drift high-powered car around race track
Despite being paralysed from the waist down, Rob Parsons can drift better than most able-bodied drivers
WHERE there's a will, there's a way.
No truer an example of that cliché exists than that of action sports personality Rob "Chairslayer" Parsons.
The former motocross rider and drifter has a passion for anything with an engine, smoke and speed, and nothing will keep him from it - not even the fact that he is paralysed from the waist down.
Well known as part of the , Parsons latest stunt seems to defy what was previously thought possible for disabled drivers.
In the show's most recent episode, cast members took turns going sideways around a racetrack in a 500hp Nissan R32 Skyline.
Then it was Rob's turn.
As it was a regular drift vehicle, the car had no modifications or hand controls that would allow Parsons to drive it.
So he decided to tape his foot to the accelerator, pushing on his leg with his free hand like a lever to give the car gas.
Sounds crazy right? Correct. But it was just so brilliantly crazy that it worked.
With the help of a passenger, Parsons got the car rolling in first gear, then slipped it into second as he started around the track, all the time without the use of the clutch.
Carving around the tarmac, he then began to drift the car like a pro, even pulling off a few donuts for the camera.
Rob's co-host on The Unprofessionals, Hertrech Eugene Jr, couldn't believe it when he saw how well the stunt worked.
"Are you serious?! That's so good. Rob is drifting with his foot taped to the gas pedal, nothing else!" he said.
"Rob is the coolest person I know. Absolutely insane."
It is by no means Parsons' first time in a drift car.
Prior to the devastating 2011 dirt bike accident that left him with two broken legs, a severed spinal cord and a punctured lung, the American was already a well-known drifter, as well as being prominent in BMX and motocross circles.
Since the accident, Parsons has built himself a hand-controlled drift car, which he claims he can drive better than cars he had before he lost the use of his legs.
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