'Very frustrating for me mentally': Wythe sheriff's deputy completes rehab after being shot

Jacob Goins shot in leg in November

WYTHEVILLE, Va. – The last few months have not been easy for Wythe County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Goins.

"My knee was pretty much locked up, my ankle. Everything was just terrible," Goins said.

On Nov. 11, Goins was shot in his left leg during a shootout at a Greyhound bus station while responding to an armed robbery."

"I thought I was going to lose my leg that night... (It was) traumatizing. Very traumatizing. I still can't use it all the way. It isn't 100 percent, but I'm grateful to be alive," Goins said.

Goins' physical therapist, Eric Lovern, describes the rehab as intense.

"He had to deal with bone fragments, bullet fragments still for a second surgery at the end. That was kind of the holdup. That was creating a lot of pain," Lovern said.

With hard work and determination, he's now able to run short distances.

"In the back of my head, I always wanted to quit. But you can't quit," Goins said.

"It's extremely satisfying, considering where he started from day one," Lovern said about Goins' progress.

Goins couldn't agree more.

"It feels a lot better for me. I wake up happy," Goins said.

He credits the support of his family and friends for helping him get through rehab.