Vanessa Bryant broke her silence Wednesday following the unimaginable tragedy of losing her husband, Kobe Bryant, and 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, in a helicopter crash on Sunday.
First, she unlocked her Instagram posts and then changed her profile pic to a shot of Kobe and Gianna. Since then, fans have been going back through the posts, noticing adorable shots of happier times.
One such photo was shared by Vanessa just nine weeks ago. “The day we met 20 years ago. K.o.b.e. I L.o.v.e. YOU @kobebryant #forever 11/27/99 #firstpic,” she captioned the pic of the two when they were younger.
Vanessa has disabled comments on all of her posts, but this one has over 300,000 likes. The couple would of course go on to get married and have four daughters — Gianna, Natalia, Bianka, and Capri.
Later on Wednesday, Vanessa shared a post about Kobe and Gianna’s death, marking the first time she’s said anything publicly about the tragedy.
“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,” she wrote.
She continued, “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,” Vanessa added.
She also noted that fans go donate to help the families of the other seven victims by going to MambaOnThree.org.
