A teenage Dundee sports star who suffers from cerebral palsy has been given a unique wheelchair that he controls with his head.
Alexander Johnstone, 16, is captain of the Tayside Dynamos Yellow PowerChair Football Club.
The youngster, of Birkhill, received the wheelchair last week. It has sensors in its headrest that he controls with his head.
The new chair, which will cost around £15,000, has improved his mobility as it is more responsive to his commands.
The pupil at Monifieth High School is unable to use his arms or legs and the chair required unique technology to make it work.
Garry Johnstone, 51, Alexander’s father, assistant estate manager and engineering maintenance manager at Ninewells Hospital, is chairman of the club.
He said: “Alexander is not able to walk or sit up properly.
“He had tried a few other wheelchair-based sports but they are always based around people who can use their arms, so he can’t do any of them.
“We decided to to try PowerChair, which started in the UK in 2013, and he has loved it.
“I wanted him to have a more mobile wheelchair and, with an engineering background, I knew in my head what I wanted.
“I spoke to the Scottish PowerChair Football Association (SPFA) and to companies in America but they didn’t think it was possible.
“Then DB Engineering Ripon, in Yorkshire, said let’s have a look and they put a sensory system into the headrest.
“It allows Alexander to use his head like a joystick and it is so much more responsive than his old wheelchair. It has given him a new lease of life.
“He loves the sport even more now that he has got his new wheelchair.”
The bulk of the money for the wheelchair was raised by family and friends but Variety Scotland also donated a sum.
The Tayside Dynamos have two teams at present. Dynamos Blue play in the premiership and Dynamos Yellow who play in the championship.
Alexander has proved a success at PowerChair and he has been nominated for the SPFA’s Championship Player’s Player of the Year.
