It is thanks to massage therapy that a former drug addict managed to get out of his substance abuse problems, which led him to the streets, as he prepares today to participate in a Canadian massage therapy championship .
“For me, massage therapy is about doing good to people, it’s my redemption,” says 39-year-old Jonathan Benjamin.
It must be said that the last 20 years have been a long struggle against his drug addiction, admits the one who is from Charny, on the South Shore of Quebec.
It was at 14 that he used cannabis for the first time. Then, in your twenties, consumption slyly takes on more and more space. “I had a good job [en assurances]the tank of the year, an apartment […]. But, me, it was always the skid , entrusts the thirty-something.
Around the age of 28, everything changes. Even though his employer gives him “several chances,” he says, he spends more than he can afford, declares bankruptcy and “pushes” to Montreal, hoping for a fresh start, which unfortunately will not come.
Homeless
After failing yet another therapy in a rehab center, he finds himself on the street. “I lived to consume and I consumed to live”, confides the one who was even reported missing by his mother in 2012.
“I slept outside. I went to the Maison du Père a few times to eat, I did that,” says Jonathan. “At that time, I did not think I would get out of it. For me, my life was over, I had so much suffering,” he says.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Benjamin
“In life, there are always ways, there are only solutions. I had to face a lot of negative to realize it, but now I see it,” says Jonathan Benjamin.
Jonathan says he had dark thoughts, but it was thinking of his mother that he chased them away. “I had a thought for her. I told myself that I could not do that to him,” he said.
Second chance
In 2019, he landed a job at the reception of the Scandinave Spa, in Mont-Tremblant. Interested in massage therapy, it is here that he proves himself. “They gave me a second chance,” he says.
His popularity quickly snowballed, so much so that he started his own business in 2021.
“It’s the first time in my life that I’m happy. I know where I am, what I’m doing, I know my role and I’m fine,” says the man who lives in Mont-Tremblant today.
massage championship
To prove to himself that he can now meet challenges, Jonathan Benjamin will take part in the Canadian Massage Championships, which will be held at the Palais des congrès de Montréal on May 7 and 8. The event will allow nearly 80 massage therapists from across the province to compete in front of four judges.
“For me, starting from the cardboard box [sur laquelle il dormait lorsqu’il était dans la rue] and to go there, it’s overturned! he says, proud of his career as a massage therapist.
Today, Jonathan Benjamin wants to give back, but above all to help those who are experiencing substance abuse problems. Thus, he will organize a “massothon” this summer, with the aim of raising funds for a therapy house. He also wants to donate 5% of his annual salary to a cause aimed at helping drug addicts recover.
“In life, there are always ways, there are only solutions. I had to face a lot of negative to realize it, but now I see it,” he concludes.