From IDF Soldier to Paralympian | Full Segment

We are here sitting with Aya, an incredible Israeli soldier who gave his health and so much of his life protecting the state of Israel and who went on to be a parolympian. What is so amazing about him is not his athleticism and not the sacrifices he's made for the state of Israel but his perspective. The way that he looks at his own life I think will transform the way that you look at yours. So when we come together for Amuim unite to heal it is stories like aa that I think inspire us in our own lives and I'm so grateful to be sitting in conversation with our friend Akia. It is such a privilege and pleasure to be sitting with really a hero, someone who's incredibly courageous with an incredible story. But I want to begin from the middle of your story. Uh looking at you, clearly you have been through a lot and you have experienced a great deal of pain, suffering, but also some great deal of courage and bravery. Can we start at the middle of your story? How did you first get injured while serving in the IDS? >> So, first of all, thanks for for having me. Um, so back in uh 20 2013, um 71 in October 2013, I served in an elite unit called the Halom. Uh I was a an officer and a team leader and I led my team to an operation to demolish tunnel that was between Gaza to Israel. Um it was almost 12 years ago. Um and the tunnel was already crossing to the Israeli side. The length of the tunnel was about 2 kilometer. Uh and we launch um a special operation to cross the border, reconnect to the tunnel with a with a big drill machine. And we was supposed to to drill down to the tunnel, put explore it a little bit to see if there is more entrance or exit close to the border and then demolish it as much as we can with explosive through towards Gaza. And while walking on the tunnel, I was half a meter next to the hole uh and it was a booby trap uh inside the tunnel as that was exploded. and I I was the first one uh in the line and I get I get most of the explosive in in my face and in the upper body. >> But when you suffer a tragedy like that and you're injured on duty, you know, what happens afterwards in terms of your relationship to serving in the army? Were you resentful? Were you angry? Were you frustrated? What is the feeling? You're in an elite unit. You're an elite soldier and now you've been injured in a way that is going to make it more difficult not just to serve obviously but for the duration of your life. What were the emotions you were contending with after realizing the extent of your injury? >> I can tell that the first two questions that I have after I I woke up in the hospital after I I was out of conscious for a few days. Um the first two question was what what happened with the mission uh and what happened to the rest of the team. Um and for years I'm I'm thinking about it and I I'm trying to understand with myself what what's what led a person to ask this specific question after something so big happened to you. >> You woke up in the hospital and the first two things you want to know is what happened to the mission and what happened to the rest of your team. >> Correct. So what happened to the mission is very is part of the IDF value that you going to a mission like like it's you need to make it happen like you need to accomplish the mission that's that's the thing that you learn since the since day like you know the the first day in the army and the second one is more related to to the feeling that I than I had because do you know in Hebrew there is a very strong word called aar and is also So in the IDF mean follow me. But it's also the letter of >> responsibility. >> Responsibility. Exactly. And when I led a h my team for a mission, your your soldier following you not because you you're their commander and because like it's you cannot force someone to lead you espec especially when you need people to step in to a cher tunnel because that's that's a little bit it's a different story but I'm strongly believe that people will follow you and it's it's it's it's true for the IDF but it's also true for leaders. leadership uh it can meet you in every stage in your life because people following you because they believe in you. They know that they they trust you also because they know they you will you know take care of them. So that was that was my first two two question and feelings that I have after I woke up from uh my injury. Once it became clear to you that you would suffer permanent injury to your to your sight and just your your physical strength is going to be diminish or change for the entirety of your life. I could imagine that somebody would want to like retreat from anything having to do with athleticism or physical activity you that got taken away from you. But you didn't do that. And in fact afterwards you were in the par Olympics. I'm curious why did you decide to be a part of the parolympic team? Why not say look I did my service. I'm now I I'm not the the the warrior. I'm not as strong as I once was. I don't have the same capacity. So I'll find a different area. Why continue in the world of of physical strength and feats even after suffering injury? what drew you to join the Israeli parolympic team? So um actually your question leading me to uh the first first few weeks after my my that I was already on the hospital and I was already out of like a life uh risk uh and um it was the first oper like surgery that the doctor did to to my eyes and after the surgery I was you know was I was born optimistic until today I'm very optimistic but they told me like you need to come back on few today and we will check what happened to your eyes. Uh because they didn't know exactly what's the what's the condition, what's the situation there. And I came back after a few days and they start asking me so many questions and I didn't understand what they asked because in my head I was like before you ask me if I see something see light fingers colors like take off the bandages. And when I understood they already took the bandages, I understood that's it's not going to be like the other time that I was injured and was able to go back to service. So I understood that this time is different. And somehow that's feeling um that that I have after I understand that was very very heavy. And I I understood like knowing myself I I knew that in order to overcome challenge in my life, in order to to live fulfilling life, I need to to make a decision to to to be to look to to to be more focusing on the future. Because if I will be focusing on the past, what happened to me? You know, all this like a what if question, what if I was clo I was a little bit far, what if someone else was there? Uh if I will in order to to overcome challenge, I need to focus on the future. Uh and in the minute I I realized that I realized that uh everything became much more easier. So for me to choose sports as a recovery and going to the parolympics was about to achieve another goal. As a kid I grew up in a kibbutz. I didn't do much sports. The only sports that I knew maybe is a is a basketball uh uh and maybe running in the field but after my injury I was I was you know introduced to a different opportunity to do much bigger things. And I think that's that's what drove me today al like in my life you know when I realized that life brings you so many opportunity and you need to be focused on on the positivity what can you achieve after so I think what drove me was to to see how can I achieve it how can I challenge myself and I always tell my friends and I have a very strange habit to put myself in an uncomfortable situation but uh but that's that's a drive than I have um and what drove me to to uh to get married to to to have a family kids uh to go to the parolympics as a part of the rowing team and finish sixth place in the world. That's the whole you know overcome challenge mentality that I'm looking to you know to have to myself. What's so remarkable and what I find so moving about you and your story is that so many people when they face impediments and challenges and they get knocked down. So even if they get up but they get up and they don't try again with the same intensity they they lower the bar and you when you got knocked down you you raise the bar and you remain so positive and optimistic. My question is where do you think your resilience your ability to constantly reinvent take on new challenges even after confronting tremendous suffering? Where do you think this your capacity for resilience derives from? >> I think it's it's obviously related to to to my roots. Uh I grew up in in Kibbut Farion in a Judea mountain and you know from young age I grew up on the story of course my grandpa parents was a holocaust survivor and I grew up in the place that was uh in the war of independences was the Jordanian uh conquerored and and and and then the whole history how we came back and and build it again from zero. I think that was a story that you know about the the the warrior of of Guushetion and how they they didn't like they fought until until the end. And I think that's kind of story that I heard all over my life again and again and again kind of you know build me the strength or the resiliency that's like push me push me forward or help me to push forward all over my life. So for example, my childhood was mostly during the second inif I used to go to school with uh bulletproof buses. So you know for if I'm telling it today or if I'm even thinking that my kids will need to go I'm like oh no no that's not a safe place to my kids. But for me that was the kind of environment that I grew up. So that was also you know it's like every every story or every stage in our life it's like a small piece of puzzle that's in the end of the day it's like who we are. So that's I think that the stuff that you know when I put everything together that's the small things that you know leading my like or creating my my path >> for people who are listening to you now who are struggling in different ways in their own lives. What do you hope the message is from someone who listens to you and hears your story? What do you want them to walk away with? >> I heard um a very strong sentence that was was was resonate with me. It's like a is a very famous one but is um life begin at the end of your comfort zone. >> Life begins at the end of your comfort zone. Beautiful. And I believe that this sentence it's just not it's not like a one one time experience. It's a way of life because when you step out of your comfort zone like you basically expand the bubble so you create another one. So it's what I believe it's it's it's um it's something that you need to live through every day. So after one, two, three times that you actually able to push yourself beyond your limits or be beyond you know beyond something that you you you think that you are not able not capable once you you learn how to do it and how to to live like that help you to live completely different life. So that's what I'm really trying to to teach people or that that's the the message that I'm trying to you know to tell people like you need to sometimes start with the small things with the little things that like help you to to be a little bit of to live in the unknown situation but when you accomplish that like you will be so much confidence so much able to do stuff that's what I'm trying to to to tell people >> you have an incredible uh spirit and perspective. I'm curious when you look at the current situation in Israel and you see the rise of anti-semitism, you see what happened on October 7th and how really the entire world, it seems, in many ways, has turned against Israel and the Jewish people. Are you worried in this moment? How do you process the moment that we are in given the experiences that you've had? So for the first time in my life because today I'm living in Toronto I I was able to to be exposed to anti-semitism because what when you live in Israel you don't really understand that because you really understand anti-semitism what they meet you in every day or the worst when it can potenti potential that can meet your kids that's where you start you start to be worried about it but a short example from today there is a very uh famous uh I'm I'm we we said that I'm I'm an athlete. So I'm very I I I I very involved in the in the cycling world and there is a one team is called Israeli Israel Premier Techch. uh Steven Adams, a Canadian jersey owned the team and this uh in the last few weeks they're they're racing in a in a world tour called Vua Despia and during this race there is so many uh propolinian protest stopping the race for so many time but today maybe I think it's the maybe the one of the last stages in in the tour um one of the rider It was a lot of protest today, but he managed to get fifths today. And but he also managed to be on the podium today because he's the young rider. And when I when I know that this rider is American, he's not Israeli or Jews. But he is standing there with a Israeli premerc. understood that, you know, they can try as much as they can to to to put us down, to kick us from the world, you know, stage in sports, in politic, in trade, in business, in everything. But but because I see it, you know, between right and wrong and and I understand that as as long as we keep doing what we're doing, we just will be there and we will show everyone that we are here to stay. That is absolutely beautiful. In terms of of Judaism, Yiddishkite, I'm curious if there's a specific place that you look to within Jewish life or Jewish text that gives you strength and hope. >> For me, um I I I grew up in a religious family. Uh and I think that until today, the things that stay with me the most is all the the nigunim. It's it's it's a Jewish music. The things that like once you you going to the shul and you hear the Shabbat songs or just you hear like you today we're in in the um before Yum Kipur and Oshashana like the the songs that really touch your soul. That's that's what's keep me, you know, bring me back to to my roots and everything and and and help me, you know, something that really touch inside like touching your soul and that's what I really love about Judaism. >> Aia, you your life and your story are such an inspiration. I am so privileged to share and be in conversation with you today. Thank you so much for sharing your story with Ammudim night to heal. What you represent and your story and your perspective is something that I think everyone can gain and be uplifted from and I am so privileged to be sitting here with you today. Thank you so very much. >> Thank you. >> [music]