Jamie’s standing tall and aiming high

NOT everybody can say they have a book in them at the age of 25 but then again, not everybody is Jamie Jay Car. 

Jamie is a media production student in Coláiste Dhulaigh who is currently chasing his dreams of being a radio presenter, documentary maker and filmmaker.

The Finglas native was born with a birth defect and uses a prosthetic leg to walk, but this hasn’t held him back in any way.

In fact, it has shaped his life for the better.

“I wouldn’t change the fact that I have one leg, it has moulded me into the person I am today,” says Jamie.

“It’s made so much more creative, thick-skinned and has given me a desire to succeed.”

Jamie’s personal story recently captured people’s attention on the ‘Humans of Dublin.’ Facebook page. His tale started with “On the day I was born, the doctors told my mum I would never be able to walk. She said, ‘of course he will’.”

He then spoke about when he went to find a job in a local bar and the barman laughed at him and said “I won’t have you limping around my bar.”

Jamie has experienced hardship and has been treated differently because of having one leg, but it doesn’t affect him in any way.

After such a positive response to his story on the ‘Humans of Dublin’ page, Jamie came up with the idea to write a book about his life.

He says the book will be very personal and emotional, with some funny stories in there too.

He thinks of one funny story off the top of his head that he’d like to put in, about meeting girls at discos when he was younger and they’d accidently rub off his prosthetic leg and wonder what it was. 

Jamie will have the summer off from college, which he hopes will give him time to write the book before starting back in September.

 “I’m going to write the book even though I have no idea who or how it’s going to be published but it will definitely be a best seller because the things that I’ve went through and dealt with throughout my life are unbelievable,” Jamie enthuses.

Jamie presents ‘The Buzz’ on Near FM and also creates and produces online videos.

He started his online career with a video called ‘One-Legged Rapper’ – a mock video he made one day while messing around with friends. However, many thought it was real and that he was actually trying to be a rapper. “I’ve always had a funny bone,” he adds. 

One Legged Rapper got a good reaction and Jamie kept making videos that continued to get good vibes online.

Always full of ideas, he recently produced some vox-pop videos such as “Dubliners trying to impersonate Conor McGregor” and “Can people pronounce the name Siobhán”.

These days there’s no shortage of vloggers and bloggers gracing our internet screens. So how does Jamie make himself stand out? 

“I think if you wanna be successful in life you have to be proud of who you are,” Jamie advises.

“Nobody is perfect, we all have our flaws. Be proud of your flaws, flaunt them.”

You can follow Jamie on his Facebook page at ‘The Buzz with Jamie Jay Car’.

Roisin Nestor