Brian Kozera was an ironman athlete and a police officer. He also survived cancer after being involved in a bike accident. According to TMZ Sports. He was 44. Kozera was in training for a competition, before hitting a car on Saturday in Caernarvon Township. TMZ SportsKozera said he ran a stop sign, and hit the driver’s side of the car. He was thrown off his bike and caught in the car’s reel wheel. Kozera was taken to a local hospital, but he died from his injuries.
Kozera is a 16-year Norristown Police Department veteran. Chief Derrick Woods stated that the driver was not arrested and that the investigation continues. He stated that Kozera’s death is an inexplicable tragedy. “tragedy” “a hole that we are never going to fill,” Fox 29. “Big loss for our department, for our community. I got so many emails and text messages from people in the community showing how much he mean to them, how much they’ll miss him.” Woods said.
We received the sad news today that a 16-year veteran Cpl. Brian Kozera, a 16-year-old veteran of the force, has died from injuries sustained in an off-duty accident. We are praying for his family members and friends in this difficult time.🖤💙🖤 pic.twitter.com/R5eL2cb0Wa
— Norristown Police (@Norristownpd) August 14, 2022
Kozera was in Hawaii training for the Ironman World Championships. He was diagnosed in 2014 with Lymphocyte-depleted Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a rare form of cancer. It was defeated in 2015. This led to him participating in Ironman competitions.
“Even facing a very challenging treatment, I set my sight on reaching my dreams of competing in an Ironman,” Kozera wrote about it in his blog. “I brought a stationary bike into the hospital where I continued to train in my room. Six months after my transplant, I completed my first step in achieving my goal by finishing the Philadelphia Marathon in 4 hours and 30 minutes.”
The Norristown Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 31 Statement on Kozera’s Death. “Brian was a devoted husband, father of three daughters, friends to many, coach to several activities, IRONMAN, CANCER SURVIVOR, Mentor to anyone who needed, and a devoted Police Officer with the Norristown Police Department for 16 years,”The organization posted a message on Facebook.
While he was with Norristown PD he served as a Use of Force Instructor for NPD and for MONTCO & Temple Police Academy. He served as a School Resource Officer at Eisenhower Middle School and was involved in many community activities. … The same mental toughness, endurance and dedication that he displayed for training was what he brought to work every day.