There is nothing that can stop me from moving forward. Iván Santos is 19 years old. Those years have been marked by visits to hospitals. As soon as he was born, he was diagnosed with a heart problem that kept him going from one operating room to another during the first years of his life. During the third operation, major complications arose when he contracted what is known as operating-room virus, causing severe blood loss and making it necessary to mobilize the Community of Madrid to obtain reserves of his blood type, O negative.
Loss of mobility, underdeveloped muscles, bullying at school, reduced lung capacity, and brain damage caused by the cardiac arrests he suffered during one of the operations are just some of the aftereffects Iván lives with.
In addition, six years ago, he lost vision in one eye because of a medication and has suffered from migraines ever since. However, for Iván, there is nothing that can stop him from moving forward and continuing to fight for what he most wants to do in life: become a civil servant. He does not rule out pursuing a career helping families and children who have gone through or are going through the same situation.
His mother, together with María Escudero and Belén Rueda, founded Menudos Corazones, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to carry out the programs and activities needed to improve the quality of life of children and young people with congenital heart disease and their families.
Iván says there is a great deal of ignorance surrounding this issue and that children have been very cruel to him. However, all these problems have helped him grow as a person, silence those who did not believe in him and, most importantly, prove to himself that he can overcome anything.
He is passionate about soccer and has just completed an intermediate-level vocational training course in Administration.
He decided to do his internship at Fundación Alares, from which he says he is taking away very fond memories. This unpaid internship was part of Fundación Alares’ “Let’s Integrate to Add” program, which encompasses a range of activities aimed at companies and people with disabilities, with the objective of ensuring their employment INCLUSION under optimal conditions for companies.
In Iván’s words, “At Fundación Alares, I have felt at home. I have learned a lot, been able to put everything I studied into practice, and become eager to continue learning more.”
“The headaches that have accompanied me for years have disappeared. Keeping your mind occupied by doing what you enjoy is the best therapy for everything. The best therapy for happiness, for life. And that is how I have felt here: happy and fulfilled,” Iván added. Is there anything better than that?
Iván stood out not only for his problem-solving ability, concentration, eagerness to learn, and the way he performed his day-to-day tasks, but perhaps even more for the values he taught us—for sharing that energy, vitality, and positive attitude with us, showing that only you can decide what you can and cannot do.
Strength, courage, perseverance, and positivity are qualities that are part of who he is.
After the summer, Iván will continue his studies at a university campus.
"There's nothing stopping me from moving forward."
There is nothing that can stop me from moving forward. Iván Santos is 19 years old. Those years have been marked by visits to hospitals. As soon as he was born, he was diagnosed with a heart problem that kept him going from one operating room to another during the first years of his life. During the third operation, major complications arose when he contracted what is known as operating-room virus, causing severe blood loss and making it necessary to mobilize the Community of Madrid to obtain reserves of his blood type, O negative.
Loss of mobility, underdeveloped muscles, bullying at school, reduced lung capacity, and brain damage caused by the cardiac arrests he suffered during one of the operations are just some of the aftereffects Iván lives with.
In addition, six years ago, he lost vision in one eye because of a medication and has suffered from migraines ever since. However, for Iván, there is nothing that can stop him from moving forward and continuing to fight for what he most wants to do in life: become a civil servant. He does not rule out pursuing a career helping families and children who have gone through or are going through the same situation.
His mother, together with María Escudero and Belén Rueda, founded Menudos Corazones, a nonprofit organization whose purpose is to carry out the programs and activities needed to improve the quality of life of children and young people with congenital heart disease and their families.
Iván says there is a great deal of ignorance surrounding this issue and that children have been very cruel to him. However, all these problems have helped him grow as a person, silence those who did not believe in him and, most importantly, prove to himself that he can overcome anything.
He is passionate about soccer and has just completed an intermediate-level vocational training course in Administration.
He decided to do his internship at Fundación Alares, from which he says he is taking away very fond memories. This unpaid internship was part of Fundación Alares’ “Let’s Integrate to Add” program, which encompasses a range of activities aimed at companies and people with disabilities, with the objective of ensuring their employment INCLUSION under optimal conditions for companies.
In Iván’s words, “At Fundación Alares, I have felt at home. I have learned a lot, been able to put everything I studied into practice, and become eager to continue learning more.”
“The headaches that have accompanied me for years have disappeared. Keeping your mind occupied by doing what you enjoy is the best therapy for everything. The best therapy for happiness, for life. And that is how I have felt here: happy and fulfilled,” Iván added. Is there anything better than that?
Iván stood out not only for his problem-solving ability, concentration, eagerness to learn, and the way he performed his day-to-day tasks, but perhaps even more for the values he taught us—for sharing that energy, vitality, and positive attitude with us, showing that only you can decide what you can and cannot do.
Strength, courage, perseverance, and positivity are qualities that are part of who he is.
After the summer, Iván will continue his studies at a university campus.
