"There are a few plaques on the wall down at police college that I was really scared that my name might be going up next to at one stage," the 28-year-old police officer told 3 News from his bed in Middlemore Hospital last night.
Senior Constable Len Snee was shot dead by Napier gunman Jan Molenaar on May 7 this year.
Molenaar also wounded two of Mr Snee's colleagues and a civilian who tried to stop him before later turning a gun on himself.
Sergeant Don Wilkinson was shot dead while on an undercover mission in Mangere in September 2008.
Their names, along with those of all other police officers killed on duty, are remembered at the New Zealand Police College in Porirua.
Const Snow said his heart went out to those families who had lost police officers on the job.
He is itching to get back into his blue uniform.
He spoke of his love of the force yesterday from his hospital room which was full with family members who had decorated the space with a small tree and tinsel.
"I just want to get back out on the job. Keeping the community safe, that's what I'm about."
The probationary officer was shot three times - once in each leg and once in his left elbow - after he and partner Constable Robert Cato entered a property in the Manukau suburb of Papatoetoe during a routine patrol about 4.10am on Tuesday.
Another bullet bounced off his chest as his stab vest and notebook were in the way.
Const Snow is yet to give a full statement to the police on what happened, so was yesterday unable to talk about the incident.
He has had two operations on his legs and will undergo another in the next couple of days.
Const Snow said he was only able to use his right arm for a short while before he became tired.
He cannot move the rest of his body yet.
He is receiving physiotherapy on his legs and has to be turned occasionally, which causes considerable pain.
However he is in good spirits.
For Christmas lunch he was able to dig into the grapes and cherries from fruit baskets he had been sent by well-wishers.
Const Snow then opened the presents his family showered him with - mostly hot rod magazines, homage to his red and black 1969 Valiant coupe sitting in the garage at home.
Const Snow said he was overwhelmed by the support he had received from members of the public.
"I want to say thanks to everyone who's prayed for me - who don't even know me - who've wished for a speedy recovery.
"I've had people who don't know me at all who've sent me get-well cards."
Const Snow said one of the first people he wanted to see when he woke up in the Intensive Care Unit was Const Cato, who had visited him a couple of times in hospital.
"I'm so thankful he wasn't hurt. He has a family, he has kids."
Const Snow's mother, Colleen Snow, said at the hospital she could not thank the police enough for saving her son after he was shot.
"The first thing Jeremy said to me on Wednesday when he got out of ICU was `Mum, I'm not quitting'.
"I said, `I know you're not'," she said.
A 28-year-old has been charged with the attempted murder of Const Snow.
Police are yet to decide whether Darren Court, who witnessed the shooting, will face charges.
Police tracked down the 43-year-old on Thursday at a west Auckland address and arrested him on an outstanding warrant for failing to appear in court.
