DAVID Rathband’s daughter wants to follow in his footsteps and become a police officer.
Mia Rathband, who carried the Olympic flame through Whitburn last year in memory of her dad, now wants to join the thin blue line.
Pc Rathband, who killed himself after being shot and blinded by gunman Raoul Moat in July 2010, started his police career in Sunderland.
Mia has arranged to do work experience with Northumbria Police in June.
“I know dad would have been so proud of me,” said the 14-year-old.
“We think about him a lot, and I know he will like the fact that I want to join the police and become a traffic officer like him.
“After my dad was hurt it became more clear what I wanted to do as a job and being a police officer was an option.
“It is a good job and I want to be able to make a difference.”
She added: “This time of year is very difficult for us. Last year was difficult because it was the first Christmas we had after dad had been hurt.”
Pc Rathband’s wife Kath, 43, said: “Mia is so much like David. She is determined and will succeed in anything she puts her mind to.”
The 43-year-old is patron of the Blue Lamp Foundation, set up by Pc Rathband to help other injured emergency services staff and their families.
Pc Rathband was found hanged in his home in Blyth, last year.
He became a national hero for his bravery, after being shot in the face and blinded by Raoul Moat as he sat in his patrol car on a roundabout above the A1 in Newcastle.
The bodybuilder had gone on the run after he shot and injured former partner, Samantha Stobbart, 22, and killed her boyfriend, Chris Brown, 29, in Birtley, near Chester-le-Street.
After a manhunt, Moat killed himself during a stand-off with armed police in Rothbury, Northumberland.
Twitter: @sunderlandecho
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