Masseur Vasyl Zakrevsky doesn’t need to see his clients to know where they’re hurting — he can tell by touch.
Zakrevsky, 33, who lost his eyesight in an accident in middle school, founded the Health in Touch massage studio in Kyiv which employs visually impaired and blind people.
Zakrevsky believes that visually impaired people can perform a massage better than their sighted colleagues, because they rely on touch in everyday life. At the same time, he says that many blind people struggle to find a job because employers don’t believe they can work as well as sighted people.
There is no official data on how many visually impaired people live in Ukraine. According to activists from the Generation of Successful Action non-government organization, it’s more than 70,000 people out of the 42-million nation.
Sergiy Shvidunov, a 31-year-old visually impaired masseur at Zakrevsky’s studio, says other massage salons seemed to like his CV but rejected him after learning about his eyesight problems.
Zakrevsky has been working as a masseur for 15 years, but it isn’t his only skill — he’s also a Paralympic triathlon champion and activist.
He also founded a civic organization called Online that helps blind people to socialize. The organization provides legal consultations, and organizes swimming, dancing, and Nordic-walking classes.
Fulfilling a dream
Zakrevsky’s massage studio grew out of a side project — Guide Runner Club, where blind people go jogging accompanied by sighted people.
There, Zakrevsky met Zoya Plotnikova who now helps him to manage the massage studio and other projects. A yoga instructor, she helped Zakrevsky rent a room for massage in the studio where she works, and to get a discount.
In less than a month, Zakrevsky bought massage tables, furniture, lotions, and hired staff. He opened his studio, near Minska metro station in Obolon district in the northwest of Kyiv, in February 2017.
“I had dreamed about (a massage studio) for such a long time, but it took me only about three weeks to open it,” he recalled.
In mid-February, the studio moved to Chernihivska metro station on the left bank, where it doesn’t even have a signboard yet. It now employs five part-time masseurs, including the founder. The studio has at least some 20 clients per month.
The studio’s workers, as well as the first clients, were from the Guide Runner Club and other clubs for visually impaired people.
Shvidunov, who has six years of masseur experience, joined Zakrevsky’s studio several months after its opening. His eyesight has been worsening since childhood because of a genetic disease.
Vita Yasinko, 19, has been attending Zakrevsky’s massage studio for several months. She met him when taking swimming classes for visually impaired people.
Yasinko said that she prefers to attend Zakrevsky’s massage studio because she also has eyesight problems, but that the massage is worth it as well.
Plotnikova says that a lot of clients first come to the studio as a way to help blind people, but continue attending it because of the quality of the massage. Plotnikova’s own son, 10-year-old Mykhailo, also comes for a massage to treat curvature of spine.
“With their hands, the people here have identified more problems with my son’s back than the doctors with magnetic resonance imaging,” she says.
She adds that many of the clients who haven’t previously met Zakrevsky and the other masseurs are often surprised by their positive attitudes and independence. Plotnikova says she used to feel pity for blind people until she met Zakrevsky.
“I realized that it’s not me who were showing them the world — they showed it to me,” she said.
Editor’s Note: This article is a part of the “Journalism of Tolerance” project by the Kyiv Post and its affiliated non-profit organization, the Media Development Foundation. The project covers challenges faced by sexual, ethnic and other minorities in Ukraine, as well as people with physical disabilities and those living in poverty. This project is made possible by the support of the American people through the U. S. Agency for International Development and Internews. Content is independent of the donors.
Health in Touch massage studio. 18 Haharina Ave. Hr 150–500. www.hit-massage.com.
To book a massage call +38068 959 4544.
