San Bernardino Co. Sheriff's Deputy Shot By Dorner Returns To Work
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA.com) — A San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who was shot back in February by ex-Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner returned to work on Monday.
KCAL9's Adrianna Weingold reported that Deputy Alex Collins has spent the past seven months recuperating from gunshot wounds to his face, hand and leg. He was wounded during an ambush attack from Dorner that killed fellow Deputy Jeremiah MacKay.
"I feel great. Like I said before, since I woke up in the hospital, my number one goal was to get back to work. And that was kind of what was so scary about it, we didn't know if I was going to be able to come back, if I was going to be able to walk, run," he said.
While Collins isn't out in the field just yet—he's assigned to modified duty—he said he's just happy to be back at work and recovering so fast.
"Definitely as the weeks (and) months went on, it escalated to more intense physical therapy. I had them coming to my house when I was in a wheelchair and kinda in bed, and they came three times a week, and then I started going to the Loma Linda rehab. And now I'm able to ride a bike. I just bought my first road bike, so I started cycling. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to running. That's something I really enjoyed. That's another one of my goals to be able to do that again," said Collins.
His entire station, including Sheriff John McMahon and Cpt. Tom Bradford, are happy to have Collins back, as well.
"I can't even hardly describe it," said Bradford. "It's overwhelming. I can't tell you how proud I am about this kid. He's one of the finest individuals I've ever been around. His resolve and determination is just absolutely incredible."
