A day after posting a video showing Sgt. Erik Levasseur leaving the hospital, Port St. Lucie police discussed his condition, both physically and mentally.”He’s feeling incredibly grateful and positive,” said Port St. Lucie police Chief Leo Niemczyk. “He’s very optimistic, and he’s very confident that he will be back to work and he will make a full recovery.”Levasseur was ambushed by a resident’s son with an AK-47 Dec. 1 in the Lake Park neighborhood of Tradition. “He remembers everything,” Niemczyk said. “Every detail, he remembers.”Niemczyk called it “miraculous” that Levasseur survived.”I’ve never witnessed, let alone an officer but a human being, shot in the face in the area that he was with the type of weapon that he was and lived to tell the tale,” Niemczyk said.After spending 37 days in the hospital and undergoing five surgeries to his face and eyes, Levasseur currently cannot see out of his right eye and has shadowy vision in his left eye. “I think that’s a remarkable improvement from what we had seen early on and we hope that continues to improve,” Niemczyk said.Levasseur left the hospital dressed in full uniform, a testament to his determination to return to his pre-incident self. “He wanted to walk out of that hospital as close to how he walked into work on Dec. 1. He wanted to be as much like he was before the incident,” Niemczyk said.While there is no timetable for his return to work, Levasseur is expected to undergo multiple future surgeries. Niemczyk said he has no doubt Levasseur will be back on the job.”Because he knows he survived for a reason. He’s not done. There’s a plan for him. And he’s looking forward to that and to identify what that’s going to look like,” Niemczyk said. Levasseur has already begun studying his own shooting, with hopes of using his experience to teach other officers how to stay safe on the job.The Sergeants Union in Port St. Lucie has set up a GoFundMe account to help Levasseur and his family pay expenses while he recovers.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. —

A day after posting a video showing Sgt. Erik Levasseur leaving the hospital, Port St. Lucie police discussed his condition, both physically and mentally.

“He’s feeling incredibly grateful and positive,” said Port St. Lucie police Chief Leo Niemczyk. “He’s very optimistic, and he’s very confident that he will be back to work and he will make a full recovery.”

Levasseur was ambushed by a resident’s son with an AK-47 Dec. 1 in the Lake Park neighborhood of Tradition.

“He remembers everything,” Niemczyk said. “Every detail, he remembers.”

Niemczyk called it “miraculous” that Levasseur survived.

“I’ve never witnessed, let alone an officer but a human being, shot in the face in the area that he was with the type of weapon that he was and lived to tell the tale,” Niemczyk said.

After spending 37 days in the hospital and undergoing five surgeries to his face and eyes, Levasseur currently cannot see out of his right eye and has shadowy vision in his left eye.

“I think that’s a remarkable improvement from what we had seen early on and we hope that continues to improve,” Niemczyk said.

Levasseur left the hospital dressed in full uniform, a testament to his determination to return to his pre-incident self.

“He wanted to walk out of that hospital as close to how he walked into work on Dec. 1. He wanted to be as much like he was before the incident,” Niemczyk said.

While there is no timetable for his return to work, Levasseur is expected to undergo multiple future surgeries.

Niemczyk said he has no doubt Levasseur will be back on the job.

“Because he knows he survived for a reason. He’s not done. There’s a plan for him. And he’s looking forward to that and to identify what that’s going to look like,” Niemczyk said.

Levasseur has already begun studying his own shooting, with hopes of using his experience to teach other officers how to stay safe on the job.

The Sergeants Union in Port St. Lucie has set up a GoFundMe account to help Levasseur and his family pay expenses while he recovers.