It was a great morning for Bossier Sheriff's Sgt. Barrett Lovell. This was his first day back at work after a battle with cancer that began in October 2014.

He was greeted by a line of colleagues and 11-year-old Helen Forgey, a St. Jude patient who's going through her own cancer fight. Sgt. Lovell says a video she sent him telling him to get out of bed gave him the strength to do that following his stem cell transplant in March.

"I'm glad to be back," Barrett said. "Glad to be back."

He sends out his thanks to the many people who made donations toward his recovery. He says the cancer is in complete remission, and he's expecting his return to work to be an easy transition.

"I've had a couple of months of where I've felt pretty good and been able to get some of my strength back," he said. "I'm not 100-percent as far as all my strength and stuff goes, but being able to make a day of work...I feel like it'll be an easy transition."

Sheriff Julian Whittington says Barrett is back on full duty with no restrictions. Take a look at video from this morning's ceremony:

 

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