Portsmouth plasterer who went blind becomes massage therapist

Richard Kirk spent 25 years working in the building trade but was determined not to let his disability stop him from taking on a new career

A plasterer who went blind after becoming critically ill has described rebuilding his life by training to be a massage therapist.

Richard Kirk, 43, said studying for his qualification at the City of Portsmouth College means he can now plan setting up his own business.

This seemed an impossible prospect when - despite appearing to be in good health - he collapsed four years ago.

He had two cardiac arrests, spent five days in a coma and contracted sepsis.

Mr Kirk also had to endure heart surgery, suffered with pneumonia and lost nearly all of his vision.

Mr Kirk's skills have been improving rapidly under the supervision of tutor Carrianne Bungay

His 25 years in the building trade were over but he was determined not to let his disability get in the way of having a career and applied to do a massage course.

"Because I was quite good with my hands... I thought if I come to college and do something else that's good with my hands like massage I could correlate the two and make something of it," he said.

"When I applied for the course I was very nervous, thinking 'can I do this?' but I thought if you don't try you're never going to know."

Lessons usually involve a class full of students half Mr Kirk's age but the college have been impressed with his progress.

"My hands are my eyes," Mr Kirk said. "Being blind I think gives me a slight advantage in the fact you can feel your way around the body as opposed to somebody who can see it and may miss things."

Carrianne Bungay said Mr Kirk has been receiving positive feedback from clients

Carrianne Bungay, his tutor, said: "I feel very proud of him - he's doing such an amazing job.

"It's a hard profession to go into for anybody, so for him to be able to come in and take this challenge on being visually impaired is amazing.

"He's working really well, and he's getting really good feedback from clients."

Mr Kirk is now well on his way to achieving his massage therapy diploma and is busy planning to convert his garage at home so he can go into the business full-time.