BONNE TERRE, Mo. – Eighteen months after he was injured in a motel shooting, a corporal with the Bonne Terre Police Department has returned to work.

Corporal Garrett Worley and his partner, Patrolman Lane Burns, were shot while responding to a disturbance in the overnight hours at a Motel 6 on March 17, 2022. Lane died from his injuries. He was 30.

Worley, 27 at the time, was shot in the right leg, just below his knee. The prognosis from doctors was devastating.

“I woke up that morning, after the injury. They told me I was going to lose my leg. It was just a matter of time,” Worley said.

The news was hard to accept, as Worley and his department were just beginning to grieve the death of Burns. But Worley vowed to return to his job.

“Every time we talked to Garrett, it was never, poor me. It was never a matter of, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ It was, ‘I’m fighting every day. I’ve got another procedure to go through, but I’m going to come back,’” Bonne Terre Lt. Bill Stegall said.

Worley did come back, eight surgeries and nearly 18 months later.

He vowed to return—for his family, himself, and his department.

“The officers could see what I’ve been through, and knowing to keep pushing to get them where they need to go through whatever they have going on, continue fighting,” Worley said.

He expressed his gratitude to BackStoppers, which has provided financial support to his and Patrolman Burns’ families.

“They asked whatever I needed to let them know; they were more than willing to help me out with what I needed. They have been a huge support through this process. They’ve been right behind me,” Worley said.