Plasterer who had two cardiac arrests, sepsis and pneumonia is training to become a massage therapist after going almost completely blind

Richard Kirk, 43, spent 25 years working as a plasterer and thought that everything was going well in life – he enjoyed his job, he had a beautiful son and he was in a good position, until one Monday in 2018, where everything changed.

He finished work and picked his son up from nursery and took him home and as the evening went on he went to bed, but approximately 30 minutes after trying to go to sleep he knew something was wrong.

He told his partner at the time that something was going on with his heart and he made the decision to call an ambulance which arrived within minutes.

Richard went into cardiac arrest on his living room floor and he was pronounced dead before the ambulance team managed to revive him, but once he got in the ambulance, he had another cardiac arrest and things were not looking good for his survival rate.

He said: ‘I knew there was something going on with my heart and I called an ambulance and a couple of minutes later a rapid response team came.

‘I was dead for about 14 minutes and then I had a second cardiac arrest in the ambulance.’

He spent 98 days in hospital and had a bout of pneumonia, sepsis and had to have three stents in his heart with the doctors giving him a minimal chance of survival.

His friends and family were scared that they would lose their loved one and the toll it took on Richard’s body was extreme.

Sepsis is an extreme reaction to an infection in the body, and is life-threatening because it can trigger extreme reactions. It can be difficult to diagnose as there are lots of potential symptoms, but many – such as having difficulty breathing – are not unique to sepsis.

In Richard’s case, because he was already so poorly in hospital, the sepsis made his condition worse and affected his sight.

Due to the severity of the sepsis Richard is now almost fully blind and can only see in light and shade – but he has not let that stop him.

Richard said: ‘I came home and it was life-changing.

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‘It has been difficult, I’m not going to lie but at the end of the day I am still here. I am so happy to be here for my seven-year-old, I am so proud of him because he really helps. He puts things in my hands and he asks me what I think it is, I am so happy to be here when apparently I shouldn’t be, I just want to be here for my son.’

He is enrolled at the City of Portsmouth College where he is undertaking a training course in massage therapy and it has changed his life for the better.

He decided to do something to help him integrate back into the community whilst giving him the opportunity to learn how to navigate day to day activities since lsoing his sight.

He went to the college to ask about possible courses that he could enrol on in order to build his confidence back up and he said that it is the best thing that he has done.

His course will continue until the summer and then he is hoping to convert his garage into a room where he can do his massages on clients and make something from his new passion.

On his course, Richard has worked with paying clients who have given him feedback on his massage techniques and it has been a positive experience.

He said that he has always been good with his hands because of his previous career and venturing into this line of work has helped him get back into a work-like environment.

He added: ‘Being good with my hands and being a builder, I called City of Portsmouth College because I had been thinking about massage therapy but wasn’t sure where I could go with it. I called the office and I met them and it went from there and it is absolutely brilliant.

I was so pleased that the college agreed to take me on as a student and it’s really turned my life around. I’m much more confident now, I socialise more and I’ve made a lot of new friends.

‘I am just so happy, I am really lucky to be here and I am making the most of it – It has been absolutely great, I have passed all of my exams which is good and they have really helped me.

‘I am hoping to turn it into something, I am just trying everything I can to turn my life back around.’

He has learnt how to do Swedish massage techniques and he can now offer an Indian head massage to his college clients and is hoping to expand his client base when he ventures out on his own.

Richard already has a name idea for his possible business venture – ABM, which stands for a blind massage, and he is going to continue to work towards his goal of getting back to work.

He said that he is determined to get back to work as soon as he can because since he was unwell, he has not been able to work and it has been difficult for him.