Red Wings Masseur Faces Difficult Recovery

Detroit Red Wings team masseur Sergei Mnatsakanov made his living with his hands. Now he must rely on the hands of others.

This week, Mnatsakanov will be released from William Beaumont Hospital. He will then have outpatient rehabilitation sessions several times a week.

“I think medically - and I hope to be proven wrong - the chances are not good for him to regain use of his legs,” rehabilitation specialist Dr. Sherry Viola said Tuesday at a news conference to announce his discharge.

Mnatsakanov is confined to a wheelchair. His left arm is barely functional and movement of the other is improving.

He also suffers from short- and long-term memory impairment, Viola said, declining to elaborate.

Mnatsakanov sustained severe head and spinal injuries in a June limousine crash that left him and star defenseman Vladimir Konstantinov in comas for several weeks.

Mnatsakanov can speak in English and his native Russian. His recovery will take “long, hard work,” Viola said. “He’s demonstrating a strong will to recover from his trauma.”

At the family’s home, doorways are being widened, bathrooms are being enlarged and carpet is being taken out so the wheelchair can roll more easily.

Mnatsakanov, like Konstantinov, faces years of therapy. Konstantinov is now undergoing rehabilitation.