Patient Loses More Than 200 Pounds, Credits Mansfield Hospital’s Rehabilitation Unit With Regaining Mobility

Imagine waking up one day and not being able stand. Brandon Gaddy, a Mansfield native, said this became his reality on November 11, 2022.

“One day, I just couldn’t stand up,” said Gaddy. “Like, my body wouldn’t allow me to stand up anymore. And that was not normal. I had been able to travel and move and do everything that I had been doing and then one day I couldn’t do it and no one had an answer.”

While Gaddy was able to move and function in his everyday life before that day, it wasn’t exactly easy. Gaddy weighed more than 450 pounds. He says he’d always been heavy, even as a kid. But not being able to get out of bed was something Gaddy hadn’t experienced before, so his family took him to the hospital in Toledo where he was living at the time.

Nurses and physicians weren’t able to explain why he suddenly lost his mobility. Gaddy’s mom insisted they get answers before they returned home. That day kicked off eight months of different hospital and nursing rehabilitation center stays. Some hospitals and facilities were more helpful than others, but Gaddy says he was no closer to being able to stand on his own.

By July of 2023, Gaddy ran into insurance issues, and his treatment at his current facility was no longer covered. That’s when his family made the hard decision of returning home to try to help Brandon in his rehabilitation journey on their own.

“My dad was the one who made everything happen” said Gaddy. “From purchasing a van with a wheelchair lift on it to get me home, we got home, he made home-made ramps, got in the house, we had hoyer lifts and all that stuff to get me to the chair and to the bed.”

After three months of rehabbing at home, Gaddy went to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital for outpatient rehabilitation therapy three times a week. He didn’t know it at the time, but this was the beginning of a new chapter in his life.

“An amazing success story”

Gaddy immediately noticed a difference when he began rehab therapy at Mansfield Hospital. While his training was grueling and extensive, it was how he was treated that most impressed him.

“OhioHealth listened,” said Gaddy. “They listened from the day I came in. I didn’t get judged as soon as I came through the door because I’m heavy.”

Gaddy said the outpatient rehabilitation team took the time to listen to his story and go through his chart. To begin his rehab, the team focused on getting him on his feet. They used a new piece of equipment they received for bariatric patients, called the Sit to Stand.

“We had just gotten a piece of equipment, the Sit to Stand, for bariatric patients,” said Physical Therapist Justin Martin. “We started using that to get him to stand. And I mean, it was just standing for a few seconds, and then standing longer, and that started a process of him getting a little bit better every time he would come in.”

Before Gaddy knew it, he was taking steps on his own. First, just one. Eventually, being able to walk around the halls. The rehabilitation team called his progress remarkable.

“He just kept fighting through it,” said Martin. “He would work and sweat and push himself to the max. I mean, every time. It was an amazing success story to be able to see something that long.”

While Gaddy was working with the rehabilitation team, he had also started taking weight loss medication, as well as joining a weight loss program at OhioHealth Riverside Methodist Hospital. He was down one hundred pounds by March of 2025. At the end of March, he lost enough weight to get bariatric weight loss surgery at Riverside Hospital.

“I never imaged this kind of regaining of my life”

As of September 2025, Gaddy is now below 350 pounds. He plans to continue to lose weight as his new mobility allows him more experiences.

“I never imagined this kind of regaining of my life,” said Gaddy. “Like, regaining opportunities.”

Gaddy is back to being able to drive himself to work. He also took his first flight in years to Las Vegas with his fiancé and is looking forward to not needing a seat belt extender one day soon.

His next goals involve family: walking down the aisle at his wedding and being able to play with his niece and nephew without using a cane. Gaddy doesn’t have a number in mind he wants to reach on the scale, but rather says, “I just want to be healthy.”

Gaddy is using his story to inspire others during National Rehabilitation Awareness Week. When asked if he had advice for others on their rehab journeys, Gaddy said, “Try it and trust the process.”

If you’d like to learn more about Mansfield Hospital’s Rehabilitation Services, click here.