On January 26, Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna were killed in a helicopter crash. John Altobelli and his wife, Keri, were also on the helicopter that crashed with their 13-year-old daughter Alyssa, who played on the same club team as Gianna Bryant. Gianna Bryant’s 38-year-old assistant basketball coach, Christina Mauser was also killed in the crash, along with the 50-year-old helicopter pilot, Ara Zobayan.
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The Daily Mail reported about a touching tribute Kobe Bryant posted to his wife Vanessa just weeks before the tragic helicopter crash in which he died alongside his daughter.
The basketball star, 41, called Vanessa Laine, 37, his ‘Queen’ and their daughters ‘princesses’ in the touching post on Instagram to mark 20 years since they first met when she was at high school.
The former Los Angeles Lakers star wrote the tribute just eight weeks before he and daughter Gianna, 13, died in yesterday’s crash.
He wrote: ‘On this day 20 years ago I met my best friend, my Queen @vanessabryant I decided to take her on a date to Disneyland tonight to celebrate old school style (pre 4princesses).
‘I love you my mamacita per sempre.’
The couple had four daughters together – Natalia, 17, Gianna, Bianka, four, and seven-month-old baby Capri Bryant who was born on June 20 last year.
Kobe adored his family and in a previous post after he retired in 2016 he wrote: ‘I’m so excited to see what God has in store for us as a family now that one chapter is closing and new ones are opening.’
He met Vanessa in 1999 when she 17 and was working as a background model on a music video and they got engaged six months later and they got married in 2001.
After three days of staying out of the public spotlight, Vanessa Bryant has made a public statement about the unimaginable, sudden loss of her beloved husband and 13-year-old daughter on Instagram.
Here is Vanessa Bryant’s touching message:
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. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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.
To honor our Team Mamba family, the Mamba Sports Foundation has set up the MambaOnThree Fund to help support the other families affected by this tragedy. To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org.
To further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports, please visit MambaSportsFoundation.org.
Thank you so much for lifting us up in your prayers, and for loving Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianka, Capri and me. #Mamba#Mambacita #GirlsDad #DaddysGirls#Family ❤️
Here’s a touching video showing the very talented 13-year-old “Gigi” playing basketball.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7IJXJ1jRzO/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Our prayers go out the Vanessa Bryant and her beautiful girls.
