Amar Latif: 'I thought my dreams were over when I lost my sight - but a friendship changed my life'
After losing his sight at 18, Amar Latif found hope and adventure through a transformative friendship and has since travelled the world and inspired others
Blind celebrity adventurer Amar Latif OBE has spoken in depth for the first time about losing his sight, a life-changing friendship, and how education gave him opportunities to travel the world.
Latif, who lives in Leeds, lost his vision at 18 after being diagnosed with the rare genetic condition retinitis pigmentosa at the age of four.
Despite his blindness, he has skydived in Cuba, surfed in Hawaii, ice-skated in Canada and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s highest mountain.
He has also founded a travel company helping blind people explore the world and has presented television programmes alongside Jonathan Ross and Sarah Pascoe.
From June 21, he will front the BBC Radio 4 Appeal for the Rafiki Thabo Foundation, a charity that has helped disadvantaged children and young people in East Africa access education for more than 20 years.
Reflecting on losing his sight, Latif said: “When I was at school and gradually losing my sight, my desk was moved to the front of the class and I was so self-conscious.
“I wasn’t confident as it was hard to know what was happening around me. I wore thick glasses and kids would tease me and say: How many fingers am I holding up?”
One morning, aged 18, he woke up to discover he had lost his remaining vision.
He said: “One day, I went to bed as normal and the last thing I saw before I went to sleep was the poster of Madonna at the end of my bed. But when I woke up, I couldn’t see it.
“It was complete whiteness. I felt claustrophobic and couldn’t breathe. I kept closing my eyes and opening them hoping I would see my Madonna poster.
“I didn’t want to believe it was real or that I was blind and thought my dreams of going to university and being an accountant were over.”
Determined to continue his education, Latif relied on recorded notes from a classmate. During a year studying in Canada, he explored cities including New York and Vancouver through the descriptions of friends.
The experience inspired him to launch Traveleyes, which brings together blind and sighted travellers. Sighted participants are paired with a different visually impaired traveller each day and receive heavily discounted trips in return for acting as their eyes.
The company has paired travellers for tea tasting in Sri Lanka, dancing in Cuba and rainforest walks in Costa Rica.
Latif, originally from Glasgow, said: “I might be blind but I have seen the world. I’ve been to Sri Lanka, Thailand, Morocco and Ghana and more and I want others to experience that too as it can be life-changing.”
Awarded an OBE in 2023, he said education has been the foundation of his success, which is why he supports the Rafiki Thabo Foundation.
He said: “I have heard many stories through the charity which have made me truly appreciate the power of education. I heard about a young girl called Praise who was abandoned by her father at eight years old because she was suddenly blind.
“She was stigmatised, terrified, and hungry, and her dreams of an education and a better future seemed impossible but she became a scholar, supported by Rafiki Thabo Foundation and is now on her way to realising her dream of becoming a lawyer!”
In 2023, Latif joined a charity trek up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, where he met Ayiesa, a scholarship recipient from western Kenya.
Raised by his grandparents in poverty, Ayiesa studied alone while mending shoes, collecting firewood and scavenging plastic to fund his school exams. At 25, he received a Rafiki Thabo scholarship to attend university. He now works in government, supports six children through school, mentors 10 young people and helps run a centre for children with developmental disabilities.
Latif said: “Ayiesa’s story was very inspiring and in some ways life-changing. It made me aware of how different my life could have been if I had been born in Pakistan where my parents are originally from and where views towards disability are very different.
“My blindness could have meant I ended up begging on the streets. Having access to education has given me opportunities and so I want to pay that forward to help others which is why I am so proud to support the Rafiki Thabo Foundation.”