TV star thought his 'life was over' after devastating condition left him blind
When TV presenter Amar Latif lost his sight completely as a teenager, he thought his life was over.
But now 48 and affectionately known as the Blind Adventurer, he is not only a successful entrepreneur and trailblazer – he has also been named the new president of walking charity the Ramblers Association.
“I love walking and being outdoors,” he says. “I also love enabling other people to get out there who might otherwise struggle or think it’s not for them and help them realise the great benefits you get from experiencing our lovely country.”
Amar’s life changed one morning when he was 18. He sat up and his heart raced as he realised all he could see was thick, white fog.
He had been diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare, incurable genetic condition affecting his vision, at a young age.
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Amar abseiling on BBC’s River WalksBut until 17, he could still see well enough to ride his bike.
Amar recalls: “I remember being 18 and waking up and suddenly all I could see was a white cloud and nothing else.
“I just thought it was morning fuzz, so I closed my eyes and opened them again but the white cloud was everywhere.
“That day, I was walking around the house and just bumping into things.
“I couldn’t see my mum and dad’s faces and I realised this wasn’t just a minor hiccup with my eyes – I was actually blind. I didn’t want to be blind.
“I was hoping I could go back to bed and wake up another day and be my normal self.”
The devastated teen realised he would not be able to do many of the things he had planned – like learning to drive.
Amar says: “My mum would say I couldn’t leave the house unaccompanied and I felt so claustrophobic and restricted.
Amar set up a firm to help other visually impaired people get rambling
The adventurer on BBC2 show Beyond Boundaries (BBC)“I was a prisoner in my own room and in my head. I just thought my life was over as I knew it.”
But along with his younger brother and sister, who suffer from the same eye condition, he battled back.
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Despite their vision problems, he says, they had a lot of fun growing up.
“We knew we had a problem with our eyes but it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
“We would do silly things because of our eyesight.
“I’d come home and say to my siblings, ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me today?’ And I’d tell them about how I crashed into a lamppost and apologised because I thought it was a person.
“My little brother would say, ‘I helped a bin today’ and it was just like it was fun in a way, although of course it had its challenges.”
Born in Rochdale, Gtr Manchester, in 1974, Amar moved to Glasgow with his parents and four siblings when he was young before later settling in Leeds, West Yorks.
Amar, second in line, climbs Moroccan peakHe went on to qualify as an accountant and also discovered a love for rambling – setting up his own travel company helping blind people explore the world.
Amar has also presented programmes such as River Walk for the BBC, for which he abseiled into a hidden gorge, canoed across a reservoir and met friendly llamas.
Other TV work includes taking part in BBC show Pilgrimage with fellow presenter Adrian Chiles, former politician Edwina Currie and Olympian Fatima Whitbread, travelling on Europe’s 1,500-mile Sultans Trail.
The adventurous entrepreneur came up with the idea for his business, Traveleyes, after discovering holiday companies would not even let visually impaired passengers travel alone, let alone go rambling or sailing. It is the only company of its kind to help blind travellers go on adventures, by pairing them with sighted companions.
“All these restrictions just left me feeling powerless,” Amar says.
“Spending a year in Canada was the pivotal point for me. It gave me independence and made me realise if you dare to push your limits, your world becomes bigger.” And while his business has proved popular with the visually impaired, it is not just them who enjoy experiencing the world in a new way – sighted guides often report that the work helps them see the world through fresh eyes.
Amar says: “We enable blind people to travel the world independent of their family. Our blind travellers love it because there’s nothing else like it.
“It leaves them with this feeling of confidence. Sighted people absolutely love it because when they go on a ‘normal’ holiday they forget to engage with things and end up taking pictures for Instagram.
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“You end up with a far richer experience than if you were just going by yourself.”
Amar says he remembers one sighted woman in her 60s who thought her travelling days were over for good when her husband passed away – but found a renewed love for adventure after discovering Traveleyes. And although he has travelled the world, Amar says one of his favourite experiences was exploring the Nidderdale Valley in the Yorkshire Dales with a sighted partner.
Though he cannot see the landscape, Amar says he uses his other senses to engage with the surroundings, building a 3D image in his mind.
He says: “I feel the ground beneath my feet and I’ll be listening out for noises from the birds or the trees.
“I can hear the wind whistling through the trees, feel the sun on my back and notice the smell of the countryside. I’ll notice the sound of the brook or flowing river and it just makes me feel really Zen.
“It’s almost like it makes me feel neutral again and when I’m back home all that wilderness just follows me back in my thoughts and mind, leaving me feeling positive and free.
“The benefits from rambling are much more than physical health and fitness.
“When you start to truly walk with all your senses, that’s when the world just comes alive.”
Amar's top rambles...
While he rates Nidderdale in Yorkshire, Amar has also had some amazing walks in places like Turkey, South Africa, Peru, Cuba and Italy – all for different reasons. In Italy, he liked “having a latte in the square and hearing the Italians speak so passionately”, while in Cuba he adored the music and the 1950s cars. But a 220-mile trek in Nicaragua’s tropical jungle tops his list.
“We crossed a shark-infested lake and then walked up a volcano. At night, the jungle comes alive. You hear noises in 3D, like nature’s surround sound. There’s nothing else like it.”
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