Alex Otieno: Unfancied para athlete with unmatched prowess in massage therapy

If you have been on detail, you might have noticed athletes struggling with muscle cramps hobble while making way to a tiny room just behind the Nyayo Stadium Indoor Arena.

Inside the room, Alex Otieno, a Paralympian weightlifter has been attending to athletes with his magical hands effectively solving their muscle problems.

It is a job he has done for more than two decades since calling time on his weightlifting career with athletes from all disciplines benefiting from his services, sometimes free of charge.

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The 57-year old has attended to athletes both active and retired ones with notable ones including Harambee Stars captain and all-time top scorer Dennis Oliech, two-time World marathon champions Catherine Ndereba, National Olympic Committee of Kenya President Paul Tergat among others.

On Wednesday afternoon, Otieno, a trained physiotherapist received a special client who came back to appreciate Otieno from saving him from going under the knife back early in the 2000’s.

Festus Kasyoka, a retired athlete who resides in the United States of America gifted Otieno with a brand-new tricycle wheelchair as an appreciation to Otieno’s services.

“I remember I had a nagging muscle injury back in 2002 and the doctors I consulted recommended corrective surgery. However, that did not happen as a friend of mine introduced me to Otieno who worked on my right limb and within a short time I was okay. I remember I had only fifty shillings to pay him but he declined to receive it. I can’t pay him enough but I believe the small token and wheelchair will motivate him in his job,” he said.

Kasyoka who relocated to the United States in 2001 is one of the founders of the Machakos Great Run that enters its second edition next week.

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Otieno while receiving the gift from the Kasyoka who unsuccessfully tried his hands in politics in the 2017 General Elections where he vied for the Mbooni Parliamentary seat said he is not motivated by making profits in his job but rather helping athletes overcome injuries.

Otieno who won silver during the 2000 Sydney Olympics and 2002 Manchester Commonwealth Games, as well as a bronze medal in the 1995 Africa Games in Tunisia said he was pleased to see Kasyoka and other athletes reciprocate the favour.

“I have been stationed here and handled athletes for years. The passion to help athletes remain injury-free keeps me going. I am happy Kasyoka has remembered me despite handling him when he was a teenager,” he said.