Rob’s Story: From Injury to Impact
 

How a Sword Fight, a Tumor, and a Student Massage Changed Everything
People often ask what led me to become a massage therapist. The short answer? A student therapist in Colorado helped me walk again after knee surgery - and changed the course of my life.
But the long version is what truly shaped my purpose.
 

Years ago, I was performing with Castlewall Productions, a stage combat troupe reenacting medieval tournaments. During a live sword fight - playing the villain Brian Dubois-Gilbert - I took a hard hit to the knee. By the end of the night, I couldn’t walk.

Three days later, I was still immobile. My doctor drained blood from my swollen knee and ordered an MRI. That’s when things took a turn. On September 10, 2001, I received a call saying there were suspicious growths on my femur. They suspected bone cancer.

What followed was a rollercoaster of diagnoses, conflicting opinions, and anxiety. After more imaging and specialist visits, it was finally determined that I didn’t have cancer - but I did have a large, benign tumor that had likely been growing for over a decade. It was surgically removed,but the swelling and stiffness post-surgery left me barely able to bend my knee.

Enter a coworker who was in massage school. He offered to practice a few new techniques on me - scar tissue work, range of motion therapy, and lymphatic drainage. I climbed the stairs to his apartment barely able to bend my leg. An hour later, I walked out with nearly full range of motion and returned to stage combat the very next weekend.
 

That experience stayed with me. Fast forward to 2003: I was working a job I hated after being laid off during the economic downturn. I remembered how powerful that single massage session had been - and realized I wanted to do the same for others. I found a massage school within walking distance that had a program starting right away. I enrolled in 2004, graduated in 2005, and haven’t looked back since. Massage therapy gave me back my movement, my confidence, and a new purpose. Now, with over two decades of clinical experience, I specialize in pain relief and postural alignment for clients who expect results - athletes, performers, and active individuals who refuse to slow down.