ESENIT

My Story

Why Latido y Raqueta Exists

Behind every project there is a person. And behind every person, there is a story.

This is mine.

Tay León Ojeda

Founder and Coordinator of Latido y Raqueta

I am not a doctor. I am not a physiotherapist. I am not a professional athlete.

I am a person who saw an enormous need and decided to do something about it.


Living with a cardiopulmonary disease changed the rhythm of my life.
It changed my pace, my limits… and my understanding of effort.
I have been through surgeries, treatments, and a scar that runs across my body and my story. But rather than being defined by fragility, I chose to be defined by movement.
In table tennis I found something more than a sport. I found focus when the air was lacking. I found strength when it seemed there was none left. I found a form of recovery that strengthened not only the body, but also the mind.
It opened new psychosocial horizons for me: new friendships, an environment I had not known before, and a stimulating world within sport — deeply rewarding — that truly helps me with the social integration that this pathology sometimes hinders.
Although in Spain there is still no recognized cardiopulmonary classification at a competitive level and the system does not provide a category adapted to our reality, I decided to participate anyway, taking on the challenge of competing without an officially established space for us.
That is how Latido y Raqueta was born.
A project that brings together health and sport to show that limitation is not the end of the road, but the beginning of a new way forward.

Breathe, play, live.

The Origin

How an Idea That Can Change Lives Was Born

The Observation

For years, I have been a close witness to how cardiopulmonary and vascular diseases radically transform people’s lives. Not only because of the physical symptoms — dyspnea, fatigue, functional limitation — but because of something deeper and more devastating: the loss of connection with life.

I have seen how active, social, energetic people gradually shut themselves away in their homes. How they stop meeting friends (“I get too tired”). How they give up hobbies (“I can’t anymore”). How the disease goes from being “something I have” to “something I am”.

And the most painful part: I have seen the perfect vicious cycle.

I have a disease that makes it hard to breathe → I am afraid to exercise because I get tired → I stop exercising → I lose muscle capacity → Breathing becomes harder → It reinforces my fear of exercise → I move less and less…

The Discovery

But I also discovered something hopeful: the scientific evidence.

Through studying, reading, and researching, I came across studies published in the most prestigious medical journals in the world that demonstrate something revolutionary:

Supervised exercise is not only safe for people with cardiopulmonary pathologies… it is BENEFICIAL.

Improvements of nearly 100 meters in walk tests. Reductions in hospitalizations. Improvements in quality of life. All documented. All verified. All scientific.

And then the question arose: If science proves it, why do so few people with these pathologies have access to sustained exercise programs?

The Answer Was Clear

Because there are not enough programs.

Traditional cardiopulmonary rehabilitation is excellent, but it lasts 8–12 weeks and then… nothing. People go home with recommendations to “keep up physical activity,” but without structure, without community, without knowing where to go.

And that is when the idea for Latido y Raqueta was born.

Why Table Tennis

The Inspiration: A Model That Already Worked

While researching adapted sport, I discovered something fascinating: the table tennis program for people with Parkinson’s disease run by the Royal Spanish Table Tennis Federation (RFETM).

The numbers spoke for themselves:

  • First national championship (2024): 35 participants
  • Second national championship (2025): 80 participants
  • 128% growth in one year

And there was more: the Pimpón Park Project at Hospital de La Princesa in Madrid had documented improvements in balance, cognitive function, and mood in Parkinson’s patients who practiced table tennis.

I thought: If it works for Parkinson’s, why not for cardiopulmonary pathologies?

The Moment of Decision

When an Idea Becomes a Project

I found myself at a crossroads: Could I just keep this idea in my head, thinking “it would be nice if someone did this”?

Or could I dare to be the person who makes it happen?

For weeks, doubts assailed me:

  • Who am I to launch a project like this?
  • Do I have enough knowledge?
  • What if I fail?
  • What if no one supports me?

But then I remembered something: Great projects are not born from perfectly prepared people. They are born from people who dare to try.

The Decision

I decided to do it.

Not because I had all the answers. Not because I was an expert. But because:

  1. There was a real need (hundreds of thousands of people with cardiopulmonary pathologies without access to adapted sport)
  2. There was solid scientific evidence (exercise works)
  3. There was a proven model (the success with Parkinson’s)
  4. There was willpower (mine, and that of the people who began to join)

And above all, because someone had to take the first step. Why not me?

The Alliances

I Am Not Alone: A Support Network

🏥 ANHP

The Spanish National Pulmonary Hypertension Association (ANHP) believed in the project from the very beginning and provided its institutional support.

🫁 Cardiopulmonary Network

Coordination with multiple patient associations for maximum outreach and reach.

🏓 AEVTM

The Spanish Veterans Table Tennis Association (AEVTM) contributes its experience in inclusive programs.

Without these alliances, Latido y Raqueta would not exist.

The Challenges

Not Everything Has Been Easy

It would be dishonest to present this as a bed of roses. There have been (and still are) significant challenges:

  • Funding: Securing funding for an innovative pilot project is not easy
  • Initial Credibility: Demonstrating with solid documentation that this is not improvised
  • Coordination: Clubs, hospitals, associations, professionals… coordinating everyone is complex
  • Fear of Failure: I am afraid it might not work. But the only real failure would be not trying

    • My Deeper Motivation

    Why I Keep Going

    There are difficult days. Days of canceled meetings, closed doors, budgets that do not work out.

    On those days, I ask myself: Why am I doing this?

    And the answer is always the same:

    Because It Matters

    • It matters that a person with pulmonary hypertension can find a place to practice sport safely
    • It matters that someone with COPD does not have to stay locked up at home out of fear of getting tired
    • It matters that a person with heart failure can pick up a racket, play a match, laugh, feel alive
    • It matters because sport is not a luxury. It is medicine. It is community. It is hope

    My Dream

    I dream of a Spain where any person with a cardiopulmonary or vascular pathology can find their nearest club or hospital, pick up a table tennis racket, and feel like an active part of the sports community.

    I dream that in 10 years, when someone receives a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension or COPD, their doctor will say: “And look up the Latido y Raqueta program in your city. It will help you a great deal.”

    I dream that Latido y Raqueta will become a European reference model, inspiring other countries to create similar programs.

    “My dream is that any person with a cardiopulmonary pathology can find their nearest club or hospital, pick up a table tennis racket, and feel like an active part of the sports community. Because every heartbeat counts, every person matters, and every racket is an open door to a fuller life.”

    My Commitment

    • I commit to giving my all so that Latido y Raqueta is a success
    • I commit to listening to the needs of the people who participate
    • I commit to working with integrity, transparency, and professionalism
    • I commit to not giving up, even when it is difficult

    Because every heartbeat counts. Every person matters. And every racket is an open door to a fuller life.

    Final Reflection

    Latido y Raqueta, at its core, is not about table tennis.

    It is about dignity. About ensuring that a person with a chronic disease does not have to give up being active, social, part of a community.

    It is about hope. About proving that the diagnosis of a cardiopulmonary disease is not the end of the road, but a new beginning where there is still room for movement, play, and life.

    It is about social justice. About making sport truly inclusive and accessible for all people, not just the healthy.

    And it is about proving that one person with an idea and great determination can change reality.

    “We cannot add days to life, but we can add life to the days.”

    And that is exactly what Latido y Raqueta aims to do.

    Join This Story

    This is not just my story. It is a story we are building together.

    Every person who joins — as a participant, as a collaborator, as a sponsor, as an advocate — adds a chapter to this story.

    Do you want to be part of it?

    Contact Me

    Tay León Ojeda
    Founder of Latido y Raqueta
    Breathe, play, live · Every heartbeat counts