MIDDLETOWN, Pa. (WHTM) -- Volunteer firefighter Shawn Menear has been waiting for 11-and-a-half weeks for this moment, and getting there wasn't easy.
"He's gone through five surgeries, pain, depression, anxiety, you name it. He went through it all," Shawn's mother Susan Menear said.
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"He's been through pretty much hell," Dr. Guy Fried, chief medical officer for Magee Rehab Hospital, said.
Menear has been learning to walk after suffering second- and third-degree burns on his leg. Back in January, Menear was fighting a house fire in Royalton when the second floor collapsed on top of him, trapping him for more than 30 minutes.
Since that night, he has been fighting to get his life back.
"Burns through tissues, burns through the nerves, and this creates an immense amount of pain," Fried said. "The fact that he is alive, the fact that he is walking, the fact that he is regaining his life is huge."
"I feel great. I'm glad to go home," Menear said.
He didn't make the trip home alone. Escorting him from rehab in Philly to his home were his fellow Middletown volunteer firefighters and dozens of other fire departments, as well as emergency workers.
The street where he lives was lined with supporters.
"If you need support or you need anything, the fire service is always going to be here for you," Jason Seymore, shift captain with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard fire department, said.
"It's been a long road back for Shawn. He's gone through quite a bit to get back, so we just wanted to make sure that we were here," co-worker Pete Quinn said.
Seeing his friends and family is exactly what he needed,
"It feels great. I'm so ready for this," Menear said. "I got a long road yet ahead of me but I know I have so many people behind me. We'll make it. We'll be good."
But, as for fighting fires: " I got a couple of months, but I'm definitely going back to it."
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