(CNN) Last year, a police officer in Covington, Georgia, was shot in the head while responding to a 911 call. This weekend, he defied all odds to participate in a 5K.

Officer Matt Cooper led a 1-mile portion of the Covington Police Department's 36th annual Fuzz Run 5K on Saturday.

It was a far cry from where he was after his shooting, which put him in the hospital during the last year's run.

"I was so mad I missed it," Cooper told The Rockdale Citizen . "I said I was doing it this year. My main goals were to get my feeding tube out, my skull put back on, and run the Fuzz Run this year."

It was no easy task. But after multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy, Cooper felt compelled to give it a try.

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