Yair Amar, a coach, lecturer and athlete, told his life story in an interview for the podcast "Get to Know Up Close," hosted by Zohar Ben Aharon. He described how childhood vision problems, major surgeries and years using a wheelchair did not stop him from building a life centered on sport, self-development and helping others. He said his family noticed his vision difficulties early on, that his birth name was Lotem before he was also named Yair, and that at age 9 he was diagnosed with a visual impairment caused by damage to the neural system connecting the eye and the brain, which affects focus and is also accompanied by strabismus.
Several years later, Amar’s legs worsened and he needed special braces. At 21, he underwent a complex series of operations, followed by a multi-year rehabilitation period during which he used a wheelchair intermittently. He channeled those struggles into athletics, joining para-sport at 17, first playing goalball and later moving to rowing. He said he turned down opportunities to compete internationally because they were held on Shabbat, and he later gave up hand-cycling for the same reason. Today he plays in the wheelchair basketball league.
Alongside sport, Amar studied reflexology and NLP. In 2021, during the coronavirus period, he won first place in a speakers’ competition with his talk, "The Human Waze Is Embedded in Our Hearts and Determines Our Destiny." He also wrote a book about his life and the lessons he learned. His message, he said, is: "Do not be afraid to be different, be afraid to be like everyone else." Through lectures and social media, he aims to encourage teenagers and young adults facing social or health difficulties.
Amar said that at 19 he tried to enlist in the IDF and began the screening process, but bureaucratic difficulties led him instead to national service at Havat HaNoar HaTzioni, where he worked for two years with at-risk youth and autistic people. He now lives independently in Jerusalem, handles household chores himself, uses public transportation, and maintains a routine of balanced nutrition, reading and regular workouts. He said he is also looking for a relationship and hoping to build a home, and described himself as "an endless light that does not depend on appearance."
