VIDEO: Sister of Fallen FL Deputy Joins Law Enforcement
The sister of a Hillsborough County, FL, sheriff's deputy who lost his life in the line of duty followed in his footsteps on Wednesday. Deputy John Kotfila Jr.'s younger sister became a Hillsborough County deputy herself, reports WFLA.
Katelyn Kotfila calls her new deputy badge, a badge of honor.
"Anytime I see anything with HCSO I think of him and I am reminded that I am here and he is not," she said. "But in the process, if I could save just one family from the pain and suffering that I went through, it would be worth it."
More than a year has gone by since her older brother, Deputy John Kotfila Jr. was killed in the line of duty by a wrong-way driver.
"He accomplished so much; that is what she wanted to do. She was questioning her life at that point: 'How am I affecting people? I am not affecting people like my brother did.' And he was a role model to her and she said she was going to carry on in his footsteps," her father John Kotfila Sr. said.