DUNMORE -- At an event honoring Cpl. Bryon Dickson, Trooper Alex Douglass spoke with Newswatch 16 about his road to recovery.
Douglass was severely wounded after the shooting at the Blooming Grove Barracks in September. Eric Frein is awaiting trial for charges related to the murder of Cpl. Bryon Dickson and the shooting at the barracks.
The Borough of Dunmore honored Dickson by naming a road after him near the borough's community center.
This is the first time we have seen Trooper Alex Douglass in public since the attack at the barracks in September.
On Saturday, Douglass sat next to Corporal Bryon Dickson's family at a ceremony naming a street in Dunmore after the slain trooper.
"It's an honor being here today," said Trooper Douglass. "Especially for the event for the Dickson family. It's just an amazing event."
Dickson and Douglass were ambushed outside the barracks in Pike County. Corporal Dickson was killed and Trooper Douglass seriously wounded. Now Eric Frein is behind bars, awaiting trial for the deadly attack.
Douglass had 16 surgeries over the past six months and even had his hip replaced.
"I feel good," he added. "I'm getting better and now I'm off the crutches," said Douglass.
He needed those crutches for months through the holidays and up until recent months.
Now crutch less, Douglass says he'll have surgery number 17 at a hospital in New York City in April and says he's hoping to make a full recovery.
"Our department was tremendous during this horrific tragedy," added Douglass. "That's what really kept me motivated and just looking on into the future."
"It goes to show the heart of our organization," said Sgt. Brian Vennie, Pennsylvania State Police. "We are a family. I mean that's just the way it is. Trooper Douglass is finally about to get out and around."
Douglass says he isn't letting all the surgeries get him down. He hopes to regain enough strength to become more active and build back to a life he once knew.
"I would love to go back [as a State Trooper] and do the same job I was doing," he explained. "I don't want anything to hold me back and I feel I will eventually be able to go back and it will be an honor to go back to the Pennsylvania State Police."