Vanessa Bryant se je ob fotografiji celotne družine, na kateri sta Kobe in Vanessa ter hčerke Natalia (17 let), Gianna (13), katere vzdevek je bil Gigi, Bianka (3) in Capri (1), uvodoma zahvalila milijonom ljudi za podporo in ljubezen v tem "grozljivem času".

"Moja dekleta in jaz se vam zahvaljujemo tudi za vse molitve. Brez dvoma jih potrebujemo. Povsem smo strte ob nenadni izgubi ljubljenega Kobeja, čudovitega očeta, in sladke Gianne, neverjetne hčerke in ljubeče sestre Natalie, Bianke in Capri," je zapisala 37-letna Vanessa.

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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 ❤️

A post shared by Vanessa Bryant ???? (@vanessabryant) on Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59pm PST

Ameriški košarkarski zvezdnik Kobe Bryant in njegova hčerka Gianna sta preminila v nedeljo, ko se je helikopter, s katerim sta potovala na tekmo ženske košarke v Bryantovi akademiji, zaradi goste megle zaletel v hrib v Calabasasu. Poleg njiju je umrlo še vseh sedem potnikov v helikopterju. Natančen vzrok nesreče še ni znan.

Gianna Bryant je bila članica ekipe Mamba in je imela tisti dan tekmo. Kobe Bryant, ki je leta 2016 končal kariero po 20 sezonah pri Los Angeles Lakers, je bil eden od trenerjev hčerkine ekipe.

"Povsem smo strte tudi zaradi vseh drugih družin, ki so v nedeljo izgubile svoje ljubljene in intimno žalujemo skupaj z njimi. Ni besed, s katerimi bi lahko opisala našo bolečino. A nekaj utehe najdem v tem, da sta Kobe in Gigi vedela, da sta globoko ljubljena. Prekmalu so nam ju vzeli," je zapisala Bryantova vdova in dodala, da si je nemogoče predstavljati življenje brez obeh, a da jih bosta spremljala vso pot.

"Naša ljubezen do njiju je neskončna in neizmerna. Želim si le, da bi ju lahko objela in poljubila. Ju imela ob sebi, večno," je še zapisala in sporočila, da so preko Bryantove športne fundacije Mamba ustanovili sklad MambaOnThree za pomoč preostalim družinam, ki jih je prizadela tragična nesreča.

Za zdaj še ni znano, kdaj bo zadnje slovo legendarnega košarkarja.