Fighting Back — Trolley Square survivor vows to walk again

Stacy Hanson has a goal.

"Hopefully by Feb. 12, I'll be able to take a couple of steps on my own," he said, grinning slightly. "Just to give Talovic the bird."

Hanson, who survived the shooting rampage at the Trolley Square mall, wants to take those few steps by the first-year anniversary of the massacre that killed five people and wounded three others: Feb. 12, 2008. The gunman, 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic, died in a shootout with police.

"It's 'Hey, I've beat it. He's dead. I'm alive,'" Hanson said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. "I'm moving on with my life."

Hanson was shot three times with a shotgun after he tried to reason with Talovic inside the Cabin Fever card and novelty shop. Now in a wheelchair, Hanson still has a lot of buckshot in his back. He's also in the hardest part of his rehabilitation: learning to walk again.

"It's tough because the muscles aren't there yet, and your brain has to kind of relearn how to move your legs," Hanson said.

Rehab

Hanson wheels himself into the rehabilitation center at University Hospital, plopping himself on a mat. He grabs each of his legs and begins stretching.

"I have scar tissue here," he said, pointing toward his abdomen. "I have to really stretch."

Hanson undergoes physical therapy twice a week. On this day, he's accompanied by his brother, Tim.

"His progress has really been amazing," Tim said. "He lives for it."

With the help of Sue Sandwick, his physical therapist, Hanson puts on a pair of leg braces and then a harness attached to a track on the ceiling.

"One ... two ... three ... ," he says.

Closing his eyes and grunting slightly, Hanson is helped to stand. He grips the walker in front of him. His eyes gaze up at the ceiling.

"Think about stretching, arching your back," Sue tells him.

After stretching a bit in the harness, he lurches his body forward.

His chest high, he presses his lips together tightly and makes soft grunts as he moves forward.

As he is supported by the harness, Tim holds his waist from behind. Sue has a hand on his chest and another on his waist. As he moves each leg, she puts her foot out to keep him from stepping too far.