Concepción Montaño Ramírez, RN, a familiar name to many who participate in the SVS Foundation September Vascular Health Step Challenge, has been the challenge’s Top Walker for the past three years. Within that time, she has walked over 329 miles and was honored by the Foundation as a legacy walker in this year’s Step Challenge. Beyond the leaderboard, the people around her regard her as a symbol of resilience, inspiration and a legacy in action with how her family history is deeply intertwined with vascular health.
Her journey to becoming a vascular health advocate began in the operating room. Concepción spent countless hours on her feet as a nurse for over 30 years, where she sometimes was on her feet for up to 16 hours a day, assisting in complex surgeries ranging from oncology to amputations. Even with a demanding career, she had never embraced formal exercise until the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I didn’t even know how to move one foot,” she recalls. “My son would do workouts with me, but I didn’t like them. I had never done anything like that in my life.” The ball was set in motion when she and her son, SVS member Carlo Angello Sánchez Montaño, MD, signed up for the Step Challenge. She began walking more, all throughout Mexico City where she currently lives, through the forests and streets around her. She found herself energized, motivated and inspired, which in turn inspired her son, who had chosen to become a vascular surgeon after witnessing the toll vascular disease had taken on their family.
In her hometown of Poza Rica, Veracruz, there were little to no doctors that could treat vascular diseases in the area. Her brother lost both legs to amputation, a nephew lost one leg at a young age, and her sister and mother both passed away from cerebrovascular diseases. Another one of her brother’s passed away from complications related to venous circulation. These tragedies fueled her determination to change her lifestyle and advocate for prevention.
In February, Concepción faced her own medical emergency—a thoracic surgery that could have been life-threatening. Doctors feared she wouldn’t survive without oxygen support within the first eight days following the surgery. According to what her doctors said, it was thanks to her commitment to walking and exercise that she recovered remarkably well. “They told me it looked like nothing had ever happened to me,” she said. “I’m a normal person; I just need to keep going at my own rhythm.”
Her rhythm has propelled her to new heights as she enters her fourth year in the Step Challenge. Concepción continues to walk up to 30 kilometers a day, adjusting only as her body allows. She tracks her steps with her smart watch, which lets her know when she still needs to complete her activities, studies Italian to keep her mind sharp and shares advice with others around her to keep a healthy lifestyle: “Avoid sugars, fatty foods and stress. Walk, walk, walk!”
Her influence extends beyond her own health. As a nurse, she continues to educate patients and families about vascular disease prevention. Her son carries forward her legacy, as he is motivated by the desire to prevent others from experiencing the same losses their family endured.
“Representation matters,” Concepción says. “When you know your patients, you can talk to them about prevention. You can help them change their lifestyle and live healthier lives.”
This Hispanic Heritage Month, the SVS Foundation celebrates Concepción Montaño Ramirez, RN, a woman whose steps have not only transformed her own life but inspired a new generation of vascular health advocates.
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