Vanessa Bryant Testifies She Suffers Panic Attacks From Shared Kobe Bryant Crash Photos
Vanessa Bryant testified Friday that she sufferers anxiety and panic attacks over the possibility of seeing photos from the 2020 helicopter crash that killed her husband, Kobe Bryant, their daughter, Gianna, and seven others, according to CNN. She took the stand in her federal lawsuit against Los Angeles County and revealed when she learned about county sheriff's deputies sharing the graphic photos, which was from a report from the Los Angeles Times.
"I just remember not wanting to react cause the girls were in the room," Vanessa Bryant said. "I said, 'I can't do this.' ... And I bolted out of the house and I ran to the side of the house so the girls couldn't see me. I wanted to run... down the block and just scream. I can't escape my body. I can't escape what I feel."
Bryant, along with Chris Chester whose wife and daughter also died in the crash, filed a federal lawsuit alleging the county invaded their privacy for the spread of the photos, which show the crash along with the bodies. Bryant also shared her interaction with Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva who informed her that her husband and daughter had been killed. She wanted Villanueva to secure the area as she didn't want paparazzi at the site. However, Bryant said he stayed in the room and she then removed comments from her Instagram feed after the images were distributed.
Bryant's testimony comes after Chester appeared in court and spoke about the crash for the first time. He said before the crash he and his wife Sarah talked about how she would go with Payton to see her play basketball and he would see their twin boys play in a lacrosse tournament.
"Lots of things were going through my head, but I thought I was going to a hospital," Chester said believing that Sarah and Payton would be just injured, per PEOPLE. He then revealed "I had started to get an eery feeling," and was taken to the crash site where Bryant and the other families were. They were told there we no survivors. "It was heavy," he said. "My life will never be the same." The accident happened on Jan. 26, 2020, and Kobe Bryant, Gianna and the others were flying to a girl's basketball game at Bryant's Mamba Sports Academy.