Vermont-raised Amir Malik has always been an agile and active person, often on the move. At the age of 9, he felt something funny in his heart. He was later diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome and was told he could not play team sports without risking cardiac arrest. After a catheter ablation surgery at the age of 14, Amir got back in action. He found his passion at the Vermont Ninja Warrior Training Center in Essex.

On October 5, 20-year-old Amir — aka “Sonic” — was a contestant on “American Ninja Warrior,” one of two contenders from the state of Vermont this season [watch his run here]. Sonic passed the qualifying round with flying colors, and you can watch him in the upcoming semifinals. Eva met up with Sonic at his gym in Essex, where he trains and teaches, and also visited his backyard in Essex Junction, where he has built a ninja training course.

Music: Barbacoa, “Medieval Knievel”

A Himitsu, “Adventures”

Adventures by A Himitsu https://soundcloud.com/a-himitsu
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT
Music released by Argofox https://youtu.be/8BXNwnxaVQE
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/MkNeIUgNPQ8

This episode of Stuck in Vermont was supported by

New England Federal Credit Union

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Seven Days senior multimedia producer Eva Sollberger has been making her award-winning video series "Stuck in Vermont" since 2007. In 2024, she won first place from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for her video, “Barbie Collector.” She received...