Now that Vanessa Bryant has offered her public statement on the death of her husband, Kobe Bryant, and 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, support from fans is pouring in. The two were killed Sunday morning in a helicopter crash near Calabasas, California along with six other passengers and pilot Ara Zabayan. While there’s been an outpouring of support both online and off for the late NBA star, fans have been quite moved by Bryant’s tribute to the family she just lost.
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“My girls and I want to thank the million of people who’ve shown support and love during this horrific time,” her caption began. “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.”
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Bryant’s followers soon overwhelmed the comments with their emotional reactions to her touching tribute, which also included links on how to support the families of the other victims from Sunday’s crash.
“There is so much love in the world for you right now,” wrote talk show host Ellen DeGeneres. “I hope you can feel it.” Charlie Puth added that her family “are here with you always watching down on all of you.” Andrew D. Bernstein, one of the Lakers’ team photographers, commented that he and his family “send our love and deepest condolences to you and your girls. Your loss is ours and millions of others who share your pain. Your strength as a mother will give us some peace through the inexplicable grief.”
In the same post, Bryant also urged her followers to donate what the could afford to numerous charities that have been set up to offer relief to the families of the other crash victims, which include John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester, and pilot Ara Zobayan.
“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,” the caption read. “To donate, please go to MambaOnThree.org. To further Kobe and Gianna’s legacy in youth sports, please visit MambaSportsFoundation.org.”
As the investigation into what caused the crash continues, the National Transportation Safety Board has also asked anyone who has photos of what the weather looked like around the crash site Sunday morning to email them to witness@ntsb.gov.
