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FPdGi Awards

Míriam Reyes, Borja Ibáñez and Auxiliadora Toledano explain how their lives changed thanks to the FPdGi Awards

The three winners of previous editions are grateful for the visibility the awards have given them

28/06/2018

Miriam Reyes, 2017 Princess of Girona Foundation Social Award, Auxiliadora Toledano, 2013 Princess of Girona Foundation Arts and Literature Award, and Borja Ibáñez, 2010 Princess of Girona Foundation Scientific Research Award, explained to the more than 500 attendees at the 2018 FPdGi Awards ceremony how the awards boosted their careers. For Toledano, it was “the best thing” that has happened to her in her career; Ibáñez opted for investment in research “because it is a gain within 10 or 15 years”; and Reyes called for change in the whole education system “so that it gives all the opportunities available to all children with special educational needs”.

Reyes explained that she decided to set up ‘Aprendices Visuales’ when her three-year-old brother was diagnosed with autism. Her NGO has a great mission: to ensure that children with autism have access to the tools to develop their maximum potential. Reyes highlighted how the professionals at her brother’s school have been trained “so that it is an inclusive school”. Despite all the efforts, this former architect regrets that even now “generations of children are being lost because they are not fulfilling their potential”.

In turn, Ibáñez celebrated that this year saw the close of a cycle of therapy that began in 2005, which reduces the damage caused by heart attacks. It was at that moment that he arrived in New York and was working under the supervision of his mentor, Valentí Fuster, also present at the event. “Before, one out of every four people who suffered a heart attack died, now it is one in twenty”, stressed the winner of the 2010 FPdGi Scientific Research Award, who was also delighted that the new government has created a Ministry of Science.

Toledano regretted that, shortly after receiving the 2013 FPdGi Arts and Literature Award, she had an accident that stopped her doing what she most loved, “which was singing”. The facial paralysis she suffered forced her to bring her career to a complete stop, but she revealed that the support she received was vital: “I have had a lot of support; I was about to throw in the towel, but I felt and still feel supported”. Unlike Reyes and Ibáñez, Toledano admitted that it was bad luck that made her have the accident after winning the award. In spite of that, she assured the audience that the FPdGi Award is the best thing that has happened to her in her career.

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