Vanessa Bryant is breaking her silence following the sudden deaths of her husband Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash on Sunday. The legendary basketball star was 41.
On Wednesday, January 30, 2020, Vanessa, 37, shared an emotional message, telling fans she’s “devastated” over the loss of her “adoring” husband and their “beautiful, sweet” daughter Gianna.
Mrs. Bryant also thanked “the millions of people” for their support and love.
“My girls and I want to thank the millions of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time. Thank you for all the prayers,” Vanessa wrote.
“We definitely need them. We are completely devastated by the sudden loss of my adoring husband, Kobe — the amazing father of our children; and my beautiful, sweet Gianna — a loving, thoughtful, and wonderful daughter, and amazing sister to Natalia, Bianka, and Capri,” she added.
“We are also devastated for the families who lost their loved ones on Sunday, and we share in their grief intimately. There aren’t enough words to describe our pain right now,” she continued. “I take comfort in knowing that Kobe and Gigi both knew that they were so deeply loved. We were so incredibly blessed to have them in our lives. I wish they were here with us forever. They were our beautiful blessings taken from us too soon.”
Vanessa shared that while she is not sure how to recover from their tragic and sudden deaths, she and her family are going to “keep pushing.”
“I’m not sure what our lives hold beyond today, and it’s impossible to imagine life without them. But we wake up each day, trying to keep pushing because Kobe, and our baby girl, Gigi, are shining on us to light the way,” she said.
“Our love for them is endless — and that’s to say, immeasurable. I just wish I could hug them, kiss them and bless them. Have them here with us, forever.”
“Thank you for sharing your joy, your grief and your support with us. We ask that you grant us the respect and privacy we will need to navigate this new reality,” Vanessa continued.
“She can hardly keep it together,” the insider said. “She can’t finish a sentence without crying. But she is working very hard to pull it together for the other girls. She now has to be the strong one.”
The insider noted, “Of course, you can never be prepared for this. Despite their ups and downs, [Vanessa and Kobe] were soulmates. She thought of him as her partner for life.”
The father-daughter pair were victims in the deadly helicopter crash, which took place on Sunday around 10 a.m. local time in Calabasas, California.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva and Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Daryl Osby confirmed that there were nine victims in total — the pilot and eight others.
“All survivors were determined to have been perished,” Osby said, adding it took authorities eight minutes to get to the crash site.
