North Korean border guards were only steps behind a fellow North Korean soldier when they opened fire and one briefly crossed the border pursuing the wounded defector as he dashed to the South Korean side, a video released Wednesday by the U.N. Command (UNC) in Seoul showed.

The defector was critically wounded, having been hit at least four times in the hail of bullets as he made his desperate escape on Nov. 13. He was flown by a U.S. military helicopter to a hospital in Suwon, south of Seoul.

Doctors announced Wednesday that he had regained consciousness, having had two operations to extract the bullets, and his breathing was stable and unassisted.