SAM Mansel is a whizzkid when it comes to driving his wheelchair. And it's all thanks to his fantastic skills on the PlayStation.

Seventeen-year-old Sam, from Milford Haven, has athetoid cerebral palsy as a result of being starved of oxygen at birth.

He can't use his arms, hands or legs to help himself and has spontaneous violent movements. But he has, amazingly, mastered computer games by using switches controlled by his chin.

When he was younger he was able to use a more conventional wheelchair. But a change in his posture made it painful, so experts at the Rehabilitation Engineering Unit (REU) at Swansea's Morriston Hospital worked with him to produce a specially-adapted chair.

It's made a huge difference to Sam, a pupil at Sir Thomas Picton School, Haverfordwest. Nigel Shapcott, head of the REU, said he and his team were able to make the chair comfortable for Sam by moulding the seat to his requirements.

And while speaking to him they came up with the idea for the controls.

The team realised he was an expert at the PlayStation and managed to transfer his skills to controlling the wheelchair.

"Sam is a very bright lad and it makes a huge difference when someone has been training with some sort of interactive device. Some of the environments he has in his computer are very like 3-D driving environments," said Mr Shapcott.

"Sam's got the benefit of a system that will plug into customised switches enabling him to control his direction with a great deal of precision."

Sam's mother Penny said: "Now he has a new chair it makes a big difference and has opened up many doors for him."

Sam, who wants to be a cameraman, is now looking for an all-terrain wheelchair so he can go down to the beach and a lot more places.

He is also looking for a job on Sundays.