CCRI Massage Therapy Adjunct Professor Inspires Students Through Life Experiences

June 21, 2019
Some might think Lou Ann Botsford always has fate on her side. Not quite, she says.
“We’re all scared to try something new,” Botsford said, “but this is my approach to
life: If you wait until you think you’re ready, you won’t accomplish anything.”
Botsford has never been afraid to take risks. At 52 years old, she changed careers,
transitioning from early childhood development to sports massage therapy. Now in her
11th year as an adjunct professor at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Newport
County Campus, Botsford continues to inspire and instruct students through her own
life experiences, most of which stem from her willingness to roll up her sleeves and
wade into uncharted waters.
In addition to teaching sports massage therapy, Botsford owns her own practice – Finish
Line Massage, LLC, in Cranston – and has worked with numerous collegiate, professional
and Olympic athletes over the past 12 years. After randomly applying to a training
program for Olympic medical volunteers, she landed a role as the massage therapist
for the U.S. Olympic Men’s Ski Jump Team from 2012 through 2014, including a trip
to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 winter games. She is also an award-winning chair for
the Rhode Island American Massage Therapy Association (RIAMTA).
Having completed 45 road races, 18 triathlons and an additional 13 long-distance cycling
events – most of them “later in life,” she said – Botsford “walks the walk,” too.
She’s experienced the same ailments as many of her clients, which enhances her credibility
and allows her to provide the best treatment possible.
Later this month, she will again lend her expertise to students as CCRI launches a
summer-long therapeutic massage program offering massage treatments to the public
at the CCRI Student Massage Clinic in Newport. Botsford will also teach two summer
courses for introductory and advanced learners.
“I’m living proof it’s not too late to do anything,” she said.
Her career in rehabilitative health began rather unexpectedly. Despite a rewarding
job working with children, she longed for something more impactful. On a whim, she
attended a wellness fair and happened upon a therapist providing free chair massages.
She struck up a conversation, grabbed a business card on the way out and eventually
attended the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy in Worcester, Mass., earning her certification
in 2007.
That inner drive to peer around the corner and see what lies ahead has guided Botsford
through most of her greatest challenges. After a chance meeting with a case manager
from the VA Boston Healthcare System in the parking lot of Narragansett Beach, she
began working with Adaptive Sports New England, a non-profit organization geared toward
increasing sports participation for those with disabilities.
She’s also been a medical volunteer at the Boston Marathon for 13 years. There, she
met retired U.S. Army Master Sergeant Cedric King, who lost both legs when he stepped
on an explosive device in Afghanistan in 2012. Botsford helped him recover after he
ran his first Marathon on prosthetics in 2014 and finally reunited with the 42-year-old
veteran in April when King crossed the finish line on a handcycle.
Since meeting King five years ago, Botsford has used excerpts from his book and clips
from his nationwide motivational speeches in her classroom as a way to teach students
the importance of connecting with their clients on a personal level. She almost considered
skipping this year’s Marathon after running a race of her own in New York the previous
day. As fate would have it, she bumped into King in the VIP tent.
“I’m glad I went. I would’ve missed an amazing opportunity,” she said. “I hadn’t seen
him since our first meeting and I had been looking for him every year. I was overjoyed.
He really appreciated how much he’s changed my life.”
Fate also kept Botsford out of harm’s way in 2013 when terrorists ignited two pressure
cooker bombs near the Marathon finish line, killing three people and injuring several
hundred. Botsford was about to take a break and head toward the finish line around
2:45 p.m. that day when her supervisor asked her to treat one more client. She obliged.
The first bomb went off several minutes later.
Luck and happenstance are only part of Botsford’s story. What others consider strange
twists of fate are the result of her motivation and inquisitive nature, both of which
have led her to a successful career in massage therapy. Botsford continues to prove
it’s never late to roll the dice and try something new.
“I just became open to the idea of, ‘I’m not sure where this is going, but I’m going
to follow it,’” she said. “It may not be smart sometimes, but it can lead to amazing
things. If you are a naysayer, you’re not going to go anywhere.”
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