Published December 15. 2018 07:42AM
A Pennsylvania state police trooper who was shot in a 2014 ambush has had his right leg amputated below the knee.
Trooper Alex Douglass underwent the surgery this week at a New York City hospital.
His friend Earl Granville says Douglass had some medical complications with his leg and decided to amputate it to improve his quality of life.
Granville, a veteran who lost his leg in Afghanistan, says he and Douglass completed the New York City Marathon handcycle event in 2015. He says Douglass should be able to run marathons now with a prosthetic.
He says Douglass is in great spirits.
Douglass was wounded when Eric Frein opened fire at the Blooming Grove barracks in September 2014. Cpl. Bryon Dickson II was killed.
Frein is on death row for the slaying.
This photo provided by Earl Granville, Alex Douglass gives a thumbs up after his surgery at the Hospital of Special Surgery in Manhattan on Dec. 12, 2018 in New York. The Pennsylvania state police trooper who was shot in a 2014 ambush has had his right leg amputated below the knee. (Earl Granville via AP)
This photo provided by Earl Granville, Alex Douglass, right, poses with Earl Granville after his surgery at the Hospital of Special Surgery in Manhattan on Dec. 12, 2018 in New York. Douglas, the Pennsylvania state police trooper who was shot in a 2014 ambush has had his right leg amputated below the knee. Granvillle is a veteran who lost his leg in 2008 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. An acquaintance connected the two when Douglass expressed interest in doing a marathon, knowing Granville had completed several since being wounded. (Earl Granville via AP)
This photo provided by Earl Granville shows Granville posing with Alex Douglass, right, poses with Earl Granville at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia in Sept. 2018. Douglas, the Pennsylvania state police trooper who was shot in a 2014 ambush has had his right leg amputated below the knee. Granvillle is a veteran who lost his leg in 2008 when his vehicle hit a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. An acquaintance connected the two when Douglass expressed interest in doing a marathon, knowing Granville had completed several since being wounded. (Earl Granville via AP)
FILE - In this May 5, 2015, file photo, Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Alex Douglass takes part during the annual Pennsylvania State Police Memorial honoring all members of Troop R past and present at the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Dunmore, Pa. Douglass who was shot in a 2014 ambush has had his right leg amputated below the knee. (Butch Comegys/The Times-Tribune via AP)