Man Crushed By Tractor Walks After Months Of Rehab At Reston Hospital

RESTON, VA — Yussif Alhassan did something last week that some might've thought impossible five months ago.

He stood up and walked.

On March 13, Alhassan arrived in the emergency room at Reston Hospital Center after his entire lower body had been crushed by a tractor.

"In my free time, I like to buy stuff and ship it to my people back home," said the Ghana native, on Monday. "I bought a family tractor and I was putting it in a shipping container."

Using a hoist, Alhassan lifted the tractor and attached it to the top of the container with hooks. When he stepped out of the container, he noticed there was a gap between the tractor and the container's ceiling.

"I wanted to have it up there so that it would be well secured and it won't be shaky," he said.

As Alhassan began to pull on the hoist, a hook came loose, causing him to fall and slip under the tractor. The remaining hooks then gave way and the 7,000 pounds of machinery dropped on his legs and lower back.

For the majority of his first month in the intensive care unit, Alhassan was unconscious. Slowly, he began to see again and notice people in his room, although he couldn't recognize any of them.

"When I get back to myself, I asked where I was and they said Reston Hospital," he said. "I see a bunch of equipment or machines connected to me. Even the doctors who did the things on me, I didn't see them. My cousins told me what surgeries I had. I asked them if I'll be able to walk again."

The doctors told Alhassan that he may walk again, but it would take a while. If he really pushed hard, something good could happen.

Over the next few months, Alhassan began the rehabilitation process by going every day to physical therapy.

"I couldn't even lift my my leg six inches off the bed," he said. "These amazing therapists, they started working with me gradually to the point that I could even lay on the bed and then lift my legs, both legs at the same time."

Alhassan kept pushing himself and gradually, day by day, he started to regain his strength.

It all culminated on Aug. 11, when his physical therapists came to take him to his regular PT session. This time, though, it was going to be different. He was going to walk to the therapy room.

"I got up with a walker and we started inside my room," Alhassan said. "As soon as I came out of the door, the whole hallway was packed with people. I'm like, 'What's going on here?'"

Hospital staff filled the two sides of the hallway all the way to the therapy room. They were chanting his name, encouraging him on with every step he took.

"I was walking slowly, and I got so cheered up from them that it made me cry and then I walked," he said. "My wife, she was crying tears of joy. I was able to walk more than I ever walked."

On Monday, more than 150 days he first came to the emergency room, Alhassan and his wife walked out of Reston Hospital and returned to their home in Centreville.

When asked what he thought of his experience at Reston Hospital, Alhassan praised the doctors, nurses, and even the cleaning staff.

"Everybody's amazing over there," he said. "I stayed over five months. I think the hospital is like family to me."

Video courtesy: Reston Hospital Center: