Personality Development
Breaking Boundaries: The Inspiring Journey of Amit Vigoda
From a rare medical condition, to wheelchair basketball- how one teen proved that limitations only exist in the mind.
- Shira Dabush (Cohen)
- פורסם כ"ט טבת התשפ"ב
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If you think a physical disability is the end of the world, Amit Vigoda will prove you wrong. At just 19 years old, he was signed by a leading European wheelchair basketball team.
“The limitations we place on ourselves exist only in our minds,” he says, firmly believing that we can accomplish anything if we have enough motivation. “If someone wants to achieve something, they just need to tell themselves that it’s all in their head, and go for it with everything they’ve got.”
Vigoda, who lives in the town of Omer, underwent a leg amputation due to a rare medical condition he was born with- a fracture in the right tibia. This condition affects approximately 1 in 750,000 people and causes the bone to be fragile and prone to breaking rather than growing properly. “By the age of 11, I had undergone numerous surgeries in an attempt to repair and restore my leg, but without success,” Vigoda told Ynet in an interview. “Since childhood, I remember constantly going to hospitals, trying various treatments, and meeting with doctors and specialists, all in search of a solution to the condition I was born with.”
His struggle continued throughout his life, and he often asked himself why this had to happen to him, while everyone else seemed to be living a normal life. “I felt alone. I didn’t feel like I belonged as a child,” he explains.
That all changed when he discovered sports the United States, where he moved with his family at the age of 10. There, he began playing on a wheelchair basketball youth team affiliated with the Golden State Warriors. “At first, it felt a bit strange because I don’t use a wheelchair in my daily life, so I asked myself why I should sit in one just to play sports. But the moment I sat in the chair at age 10 and started playing, I suddenly realized I was good at something. Suddenly, I was fast. Suddenly, I was strong. Suddenly, people were complimenting me. I felt like I was succeeding. It was something that lit up my entire week,” he concludes.
