November 22, 2004

Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, Consul General of Peru Jorge E. Roman Morey, and many others greeted and joined with Julio Montoya October 28th as he completed the last few steps of a remarkable four month journey in which he walked from the city of Boston to the Miami. Montoya is an amputee who has a prosthetic leg, yet he walked entire eastern seaboard of the United States in a remarkable 127 days.

Montoya, who was born in Peru, has already walked the coasts of Ecuador, Peru, and Chile. He began his journey to Miami on June 22nd in Boston with the goal of reaching Miami. In 1999, he suffered an accident while on duty as a soldier in the Peruvian jungle, which resulted in part of his right leg being amputated below the knee. Instead of overwhelming him, this tragic mishap fortified him, and presented him with challenges much more difficult than he could have ever imagined.

It was at that time that Montoya decided to begin his coastal journeys with five goals in mind:

1) to spread and to stimulate the spirit of achievement in our youth and the physically handicapped,

2) to motivate and encourage society to accept those with disabilities as they are and value them for who they really are,

3) to count on the support of large and small companies in providing the jobs that will allow the disabled to forge their futures,

4) to create the Foundation for Training and Development of the Handicapped of Latin America, and

5) to form a bond between the youth and the physically disabled in communities throughout the hemisphere.

Diaz and Morey linked up on the city's South Bayshore Drive with Montoya and others as he neared his journey's end at city hall via Pan American Drive. A presentation was made to Montoya following their arrival at Miami's newly renovated historic city hall, the former Pan-American Airlines seaplane terminal. Montoya was proclaimed a distinguished visitor with the day belonging to him.