This Tetraplegic Gamer Plays GT Sport By Using His Mouth

Alvaro Blanco was left unable to use his hands and feet following an accident but has since found a way to carry on competing in his favourite game
Remote video URL

A motorcycle accident damaged Alvaro Blanco’s spinal cord and rendered the 25-year-old a tetraplegic. However, he’s been able to continue to play Gran Turismo Sport through the use of a special game controller called a Quadstick. This allows him to use his mouth to accelerate, brake and steer - and with impressive amounts of accuracy, too.

He started a YouTube channel to document his progress and show how he manages to compete. He even attempted to qualify for the FIA-certified regional finals and although he didn’t make it, his story captured the attention of developers, Polyphony Digital. He was invited to attend an event in Madrid where he met series creator Kazunori Yamauchi, who said:

“Motorsport up until now has been something that could only be experienced by a handful of people. This Gran Turismo Sport, FIA Gran Turismo Championship accepts participation from anyone.”

Alvaro Blanco's passion for Gran Turismo

👏Inspiring. 👏Alvaro Blanco shows that Gran Turismo is for everyone. 🏁🏆#FIAGTC #GTSport

Posted by Gran Turismo on Saturday, November 17, 2018

He’s completely right - and Alvaro is proof. Motorsport has an extremely high barrier of entry and for many people, even competing at a grassroots level is unattainable. Sim racing and esports provides an affordable, competitive and increasingly realistic way for people to compete against each other, regardless of background.

Alvaro’s videos show not only that it’s possible for him to continue to enjoy his passion, but that he can compete on a similar level to anyone in a racing esports arena.

In fact, it’s not ridiculous to think that there’s still plenty of room for him to improve even further. Perhaps the next time he’s at the finals of a GT Sport event it’ll be as a driver, not a guest…

A version of this article was originally posted on WTF1

Sponsored Posts

Comments

Kenji (Oldsmobile Fan) (GoldWing Enthusiast) (wheel nut)

It’s nice to see someone who won’t let a little accident get in the way of them doing what they love

12/30/2018 - 12:51 |
28 | 0

Yeah,in fact,I’ve seen a video of a drifter who has no hands and drifts using his feet

12/30/2018 - 12:59 |
7 | 0
Anonymous

It’s very nice to see ppl continuing their passion even tho they have caught in the bad situation

12/30/2018 - 14:23 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Someone plz plz plz give this bro the Nobel Prize

12/30/2018 - 14:49 |
5 | 9
CannedRex24

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

Why do you have so much downvotes lol?

12/31/2018 - 07:58 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

It’s good to see him continue his passion, but don’t expect me to go easy on him if we cross paths in the world of online racing, it’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, plus he’s probably much better at racing than I am.

12/31/2018 - 11:11 |
0 | 0
RustX7 2.0

Nice

01/01/2019 - 15:53 |
0 | 0
Slyline guy 09

How does he do that ???

01/02/2019 - 16:32 |
1 | 0
BlackHawkSP

Me: I dont like the idea of autonomous cars.
Someone: Id like to see how well you can keed priving if you break a leg or loose the mobility on your body.
Me: STFU: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyexjfEwp4k

01/06/2019 - 17:32 |
0 | 0
Moises manuel

That’s some impressive stuff right there

03/26/2019 - 12:26 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Lol man. Its very funny video. Why there are no such guys in Dota 2 Community. I watched https://hawkbets.com tournaments for a long time, there are some good commentators there as SirActionSlacks but its almost all(

03/06/2020 - 00:15 |
0 | 0