Vanessa Bryant Sends Out Emotional Post as She Breaks Her Silence on Death of Kobe Bryant - Lakers Daily Vanessa Bryant Sends Out Emotional Post as She Breaks Her Silence on Death of Kobe Bryant - Lakers Daily
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Vanessa Bryant Sends Out Emotional Post as She Breaks Her Silence on Death of Kobe Bryant

Kobe and Vanessa Bryant

The death of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on Sunday led to an outpouring of grief from his many friends and fans, with his widow, Vanessa, offering her first statement on Wednesday in a poignant and inspirational social media post.

View this post on Instagram

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

The deep pain of Vanessa Bryant losing her husband was horribly magnified by the fact that their 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, also perished in the helicopter crash that killed nine people.

The Bryants were married in 2001 and had one child when they weathered controversy in 2003 when Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault.

However, since that time, their marriage had thrived, with the couple welcoming three more daughters into the world.

Gianna Bryant was the second-oldest of the four Bryant children, with sisters Natalia, Bianka and Capri surviving.

Vanessa Bryant made a concerted effort in her message to recognize the other victims in the tragedy and their families.

Her selfless gesture in setting up a fund for those families is indicative of that approach and will no doubt result in a flood of donations from those who are searching for some way to come to grips with the situation.