Off-Duty Accident Claims The Life Of Veteran Montco Officer

NORRISTOWN, PA — A veteran Norristown police officer who had survived cancer and was preparing to compete in an Ironman World Championship in Hawaii this coming fall has passed away, local police officials announced.

Cpl. Brian Kozera, a 16-year veteran of the Norristown Police Department, died from injuries he sustained in an off-duty accident, Norristown Police FOP Lodge #31 announced in a social media post.

The FOP said that on the day of his passing, Kozera was on a bicycle ride training for the Ironman competition slated to take place this October.

The organization did not go into further details about the exact nature of the accident.

Rossy Calderon, of the Norristown Police Department, independently confirmed to Patch that Kozera died this past weekend while riding his bike, but did not elaborate, other than to say the department was "in shock, with a profound sense of loss and pain."

Norristown Police Chief Derrick Wood tweeted that Kozera was a "devoted husband, father, and great friend."

And the FOP said that Kozera's toughness, "endurance, and dedication he had for training was the same way he showed up for work everyday. You will be missed brother."

Kozera had written online about his battle with cancer, which started with a diagnosis back in the spring of 2014.

While undergoing hernia surgery, doctors discovered a suspicious lymph node that eventually got diagnosed as a rare type of lymphoma, he stated.

"To say we were shocked would be an understatement," Kozera had written online. "At 36, I was diagnosed with stage IV cancer that had spread to my groin, pelvis, right hip, abdomen, chest, and spine."

At the time of his cancer diagnosis Kozera was training for a local triathlon, working as a Norristown police officer, and raising three young daughters with his wife, Kristin.

Kozera was ultimately referred by his father — who served as executive associate dean at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University — to a colleague at Fox Chase Cancer Center, who specialized in lymphoma.

He ended up undergoing numerous rounds of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant in the spring of 2015, at which time he brought a stationary bike into his hospital room to begin training for his dream of competing in a marathon, Kozera stated.

From there, Kozera went on to compete in events locally in Philadelphia and outside of the state.

Kozera even ventured to Austria to compete in an Ironman contest in the summer of 2016.

He most recently said he was looking forward to competing in the Kona Ironman event in Hawaii that was originally scheduled to take place last October but had since been pushed back to this October due to the pandemic.

Patch will bring you additional information about Kozera's passing when it becomes available.