AN INSPIRATIONAL cerebral palsy sufferer has spoken out to say everyone can achieve their ambitions, after he was left undeterred to become a pig farmer despite being in a wheelchair.

Chris Firmin, 29, who runs Greenacres Farm in Southwick, has always had an interest in animals and thought it would be a challenge to see if he could put his talents to farming.

Mr Firmin said: "You want to know they have had a good life and so when you hear about supermarkets and how they get their meat you always hear animals are kept in cages.

"I thought it made sense if I got pigs to make sure that they are reared properly and by hand and I have been doing it for 18 months now.”

Mr Firmin, along with his girlfriend Chloe, hand rear eight piglets at a time, including breeds like Gloucester and Pietrain, and then go on to sell their pork to locals.

Alongside his farming hobby, he is also completing a PhD in clinical psychology at University of Bath.

Mr Firmin added: "I am not built to be disabled. I'm such an outdoor person and I am doing my PhD in psychology because I can't do other things. I can't walk so I talk.

"I had to get a career that uses my brain, which psychology was right for.

"There are times where I get frustrated with it and think if I could walk or if I could go do this or that. But you don't moan about it because I don't think I have anything to moan about.”

Undeterred by the muddy terrain of the fields, Mr Firmin said much of the time he finds using his wheelchair handy although he has got into some sticky situations since opening the farm.

He added: "A few months ago the pigs got out. My girlfriend, who was my main carer at the time, went to college and I was on my own for about an hour and I thought what could possibly go wrong. But all ten pigs got out and I had my neighbours calling me to say they were at their farm.

"There was me with my wheelchair going up the road trying to get them all back in and in the end I rounded them up. It was a definitely a sight - me in the wheelchair with six 10-stone pigs in front of me.

“There has been a few moments where I've managed to get my wheelchair stuck in the mud as well and in the summer, my wheelchair turned on itself and I ended up on the ground with eight pigs running around me.

"I thought it was revenge but luckily all they did was come over to see if I was all right.

"You have to just accept it and get on with things despite being in a wheelchair.”

Mr Firmin, who moved to Wiltshire 18 months ago from Bournemouth, hopes his story will inspire others with similar conditions to achieve their dreams.

For more information about the farm and how to buy Greenacres Pork, visit www.facebook.com/greenacresfarming