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Dr Amit Patel
Dr Amit Patel is an author, disability rights campaigner, motivational speaker and independent accessibility consultant. He is registered severely sight impaired (blind), having lost his sight to keratoconus in 2013. Amit studied medicine at Cambridge and qualified as a doctor, specialising in emergency medicine and major incidents. During medical school, Amit was diagnosed with keratoconus, a condition which changes the shape of your corneas, but which is usually easily treated with a corneal transplant. However, Amit was one of the rare individuals for whom the transplants rejected and, despite travelling to the US for ground-breaking surgery, Amit lost his sight completely just one year after getting married.
About Dr Amit Patel
Since then, Amit has been on a journey to learn to live with his sight loss, from learning how to make a cup of tea again to walking using a white cane. Once getting to grips with the basics himself, Amit set out to help others who were new to sight loss, through volunteering with the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) and Guide Dogs for the Blind. Amit is now an active campaigner for accessibility, diversity and inclusion, speaking out against the issues that disabled people face daily. He has even written a book about his journey, Kika & Me, published by Pan Macmillan.
In September 2014, and after only 6 weeks on the waiting list, Amit was matched to his first Guide Dog, Kika, a white Labrador. Together, Amit and Kika travel through London and its surrounds on a daily basis, charting their journeys, challenges and the people they meet on their travels via their social media accounts.
In 2022, Kika took on a new role, alongside Amit, for Cbeebies, becoming a superhero in a new hybrid action and animated show Dog Squad. Joining a super-skilled, big hearted team of working dogs, they use their superpowers to complete important daily missions for their owners. Dog Squad follows each dog on heartwarming and funny everyday adventures. Kika has even become a Cbeebies game and has her own theme tune! Watch this space for series 2 and 3 along with a Christmas special coming to our screens soon.
Amit has appeared in various online and print media in the UK and around the world, as well as featuring on BBC London News, ITV London News, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News and Sky Sunrise. He is a regular contributor to the BBC Asian Network, BBC Radio 4, BBC 5 Live and BBC London Radio
To book Motivational Speaker Dr Amit Patel, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com
Amit believes that education is central to improving awareness and understanding of disability and the challenges that disabled people face daily. Amit can provide bespoke diversity, equity and inclusion training for businesses and brands, advise on accessibility or work with you to address specific challenges within your business.
Amit has experience of providing consultancy, guidance and running workshops for a range of different sized businesses across the financial services, legal, tech, arts and transport sectors.
Amit is a passionate and inspiring motivational speaker. In his keynotes he takes audiences from laughter to tears and back to laughter again, bringing them with him on a heartfelt journey of change and determination. As a role model within the ethnic minority and disabled communities, Amit can speak articulately and from experience on the intersection of race, class and disability. Amit speaks frequently on the topics of mental health, coping with lifechanging situations and overcoming the challenges that life may throw at you.
Testimonials
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Many people have stopped us to talk about your visit and I could see by the audience reaction on the day how deeply engaged people were with your story. Wow, what an amazing story and session. So much to take on board about how we respond to people and suggestions around us.
""I have been contacted by people from all levels in the firm who were totally inspired - people have been talking about the session and about you and Kika all day! It will have made a lasting impact - whether that’s on people like Lizzie who was inspired to book her flying lesson after seeing your Toyota video for the first time, to our senior partners who have agreed to get more involved in our diversity efforts off the back of hearing you speak."
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Amazing event with a lot of practical takeaways. Really enjoyed your session with compliments on your speaking style and how inspiring your story is. The feedback from the event was brilliant, people thought you were really engaging, your story was very inspiring, and Kika was so adorable!
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