Gabriela Camargo is the Founder Director of the Stay in Step foundation. She grew up in Venezuela and she graduated from Santa Maria University, Law School in Caracas-Venezuela in 1998. She has over 10 years work experience within the administration and legal field. Her legal background goes from working at the governor’s office in Cumana, Venezuela modifying, implementing and changing regulations for the city, to her private legal practice in civil law and labor compensation. She has well-developed skills in human relations/ interpersonal interactions. She gained an excellent experience working in the title company field in the United States.
Since her husband Romy Camargo was wounded in Afghanistan in 2008, she has been an advocate for the military and civilian spouses and family members of people with spinal cord injuries. Her love, compassion, dedication and loyalty to her husband and her desire to help people with spinal cord injuries is the motivation to impulse this great project of Stay In Step Center in Tampa. Her approach is not just to manage and provide a service through Stay in Step, but also touches and changes people’s lives who are living with a spinal cord injury, sharing with those people’s an attitude of faith, hope, and optimism during the process of rehabilitation and recovery.
Romy Camargo grew up in Crystal River Florida. Romy enlisted in the Army in 1995 and Retired with the Rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3. While conducting a combat operation on September 16, 2008, his detachment was viciously ambushed. During the ambush, Romy sustained a gunshot wound to the back of the neck. The gunshot wound paralyzed him from the neck down. His medic Steve Hill who is the Lead Trainer at Stay In Step was able to stabilize him while his Team ODA 7115 prepped the Battlefield to be medically airlifted out of the Area. Once he arrived at Walter Reed Army a Medical Center he was treated for the gunshot wound and received an operation to help stabilize his neck. At this time the doctors were able to determine the nature of his injury, his C3 vertebra had been shattered and was extracted. His breathing was tied to a respirator and he was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He was then transferred to James A. Haley VA hospital in Tampa, Florida and was an inpatient for 18 months. Romy now lives in Tampa, FL where he is pursuing a furious pace rehabilitation and recovery five days a week and is the Administrative Director here at the Stay In Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center.
Romy’s major awards and decorations include: Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Commendation Medal, Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Special Forces Tab, Ranger Tab, Combat Infantry Badge, Master Parachutist Badge, Special Operations Combat Divers Badge and the Special Operations Combat Divers Supervisors Badge. Romy is dedicated to Taking a Step Forward Towards Recovery!!
Patricia Diosa was born in Medellin, Colombia, got married at age 16 and at 17 her first son, John, was born. She made the decision to start a family business which was very prosperous, but in 1993 she and her husband decided to move to the United States seeking new opportunities for economic development and for their children to learn another language. In 2004 her second son Julian was born.
She is a very self-driven and motivated individual. She brings managerial skills to Stay in Step from her times working through Mary-Kay Inc. becoming a contractor in the real-estate business and eventually managing an Ann Taylor Inc. clothing retail store. It was in 2012 that she first met Gaby and Romy Camargo at Project Walk Orlando, a facility specializing in spinal cord injuries. Unfortunately, Patricia’s son had been involved in a motorcycle accident earlier in the year that left him paraplegic, and the two families became great friends.
One day Gabriela shared her dream of wanting to open a rehabilitation center in Tampa, FL to Patricia. In 2015, this dream became reality and Romy and Gaby offered her the opportunity to manage their new facility, “Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury Center”. Patricia aims to use her expertise to help Stay in Step excel and move forward in the right direction. “This is a labor of love, where everyone suffers a condition that still has no cure, but where rehabilitation plays an important role in their lives.”
George Palang graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport and Exercise Science: Human Performance. Just prior to graduation, he took an internship at Project Walk Orlando where he learned more about the spinal cord injury population and how to apply the various methods and techniques of activity based therapy. It was also in Orlando that he met Romulo Camargo, founder and owner of Stay In Step Spinal Cord Injury Recovery Center. George is a very motivated individual and is glad to be a part of the Stay In Step team. George is dedicated to using his knowledge to serve, educate and make a positive impact for everyone that comes through the doors at Stay In Step.
Jose J. Lopez, grew up in Venezuela. He came to The US in 2009. He graduated from Wharton High School in Tampa, Florida in 2013. He gained a lot of experience during the last years helping Romy with his daily rehabilitation therapy at home. His experience combined with his enthusiastic spirit, commitment, and dedication, made him a good candidate to help the Stay In Step’s clients taking a step toward recovery. Now he’s ready to pursuit a PTA program.
Steven Scott Hill was born and raised in the south eastern United States. He joined the United States Army in September of 1994 serving in various positions until he retired in August 2015 as a Special Forces medical sergeant. During his time with Special Forces he conducted vast array of training specializing in trauma management, physical therapy, electrical stimulation and many other areas in the medical field.
In 2008, during a combat operation in Afghanistan, Steven gave critical medical aid to a wounded teammate, Romy Camargo. Steven’s actions along with his teammates enabled Romy to live to fight another day. After retiring Steven joined Romy as his lead trainer and program director for Stay in Step Spinal Cord Injury Center. Steven loves what he does and helps the SIS team instill hope and inspiration to their cliental every day.
