Yuval Wagner’s life story is a crazy one, that can only happen in Israel.
Yuval was born to a disabled IDF veteran who was seriously injured in a military training accident that left him in a wheelchair as a paraplegic. Yuval grew up in a challenging familial and social reality, having a disabled father and living in a country lacking accessibility for people with disabilities.
When his time came, Yuval enlisted in the Israeli air force academy and graduated as a combat helicopter pilot.
On March 18th, 1987, Yuval took off in a Cobra helicopter from the Palmachim air force base to the Golan Heights on a training flight that would forever change his life and that of his family and friends.
During the flight, due to a sudden technical malfunction, Yuval’s helicopter crashed. Yuval sat in the forward of the two pilot seats, a fact that was crucial to his miraculous survival. His admired squadron commander Zion Bar-Or, who sat in the rear seat, was killed instantly. Yuval was rescued by the 669-air force rescue unit and airlifted to intensive care. It was immediately clear that he was now permanently paralyzed from the neck down.
After lengthy rehabilitation at the Sheba hospital, Yuval goes back to serving in the Israeli air force and retrains as a computer programmer, earns his bachelor’s degree in business administration, marries, and has three children. During these years, Yuval continues to face the same harsh reality of the grave lack of accessibility in Israel that he knew growing up as his father’s son, only this time as an adult and a father himself.
Yuval reaches out to then president Ezer Weizmann pleading Israel’s duty to rectify the situation. During their conversation, the president commands Yuval to create an NGO that will make Israel accessible to all types of disabilities in all areas of life.
And so it happened, that in 1999 Access Israel was created with Yuval as its founder and voluntary chairman and leader to this day.
Ever since, Yuval has been leading accessibility In Israel and around the world through awareness, legislation, working with government ministries, municipalities and the business and corporate sector, and by providing consulting and training services – all for the purpose of granting a normal, comfortable, inclusive, and accessible life to the 1,5 million Israelis destined to live with disability.
Yuval’s destiny became his life’s work, initiated by an inspiring tale of rehabilitation and personal victory, but mainly by the will to make a change for the better for all people with disabilities.
Yuval has been lecturing around the world for many years and sees it as greatly important for the advancement of accessibility and for improving the lives of people with disabilities.
Yuval’s lectures are far more than just another tale of inspiration and personal victory. They are tailor made and customized according to target audience, the client’s field of activity and the required goal of the lecture. Yuval brings change-generating value to his audience.
Yuval’s lectures include his personal journey from the flight accident to the creation, activity, and contribution of Access Israel. At the end of each lecture, the participants gain self-value, are inspired to understand, and promote accessibility and contribute further to society.