Profile

Ignacio Montoya

“The Swim with Mike Foundation through this scholarship opportunity is providing me an exceptional educational experience at Cal State LA that is allowing me to learn and have a deeper understanding about physiology and kinesiology of the human body especially after trauma and paralysis. This is allowing me to better understand, evaluate, and interpret in order to optimize the functional recovery that I am experiencing as a participant of the world’s leading clinical trial that’s aimed at demonstrating what is possible in spinal cord injury research by working to reverse paralysis and change the standard of care.” “I want to not only use this experience to help others see what is possible but more than anything I want to give paralyzed men and women hope because hope is the key that makes this dream probable.” “With hope, nothing is impossible, or better said, Everything is Possible.”

Ignacio Montoya is the epitome of the American Dream, a dream he is literally creating one step at a time in his own neuro-recovery to cure paralysis and change the standard/continuum of care for spinal cord injuries worldwide. He is a US Air Force officer, fighter pilot-select, biomedical engineer, soon to be kinesiologist, and the Chief Scientific Officer of HINRI Labs – a nonprofit that’s aimed to do just that, cure paralysis. Ignacio, from a young age, grew up not fearing obstacles and has always created his own path forward. His levels of perseverance and determination are unmatched and when sprinkled in with a little bit of faith there’s no stopping him. When he injured his spinal cord, December 2012, getting up and recovering just became another workable objective he was sure to achieve. Since then, he has traveled the world evaluating and participating in the most groundbreaking clinical trials and translational biomedical breakthroughs known to date. Today he is in LA working alongside Dr. Reggie Edgerton, the worldwide leader of SCI research, to show the world that Everything is Possible.