'I love you and miss you': Vanessa Bryant pays touching tribute to Kobe on what would have been his 44th birthday
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Rest In Peace, Black Mamba! Tuesday, August 23, marked the 44th birthday of the late NBA legend Kobe Bryant who died a horrific death due to a helicopter crash along with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant. Tributes from all over the world poured in remembering the outstanding player. Some reminisced about his game, and some remembered him for the person he was. During all this, Vanessa Bryant remembered his late husband as well.
Taking to her Instagram, Vanessa Bryant posted a throwback picture of herself with Kobe writing, "Happy birthday, baby! I love you and miss you so much! #44" LA Lakers also remembered their star player on Vanessa Bryant's Instagram post commenting, "Happy birthday, KB." Kobe was involved in a fatal helicopter crash on January 26, 2020. On that day, a Sikorsky S-76 helicopter departed from John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, with nine people aboard: Kobe, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, six family friends, and the pilot, Ara Zobayan. Due to heavy fog that morning, the helicopter crashed into the side of a mountain in Calabasas and Kobe, along with his 13-year-old daughter, and the other seven occupants were all killed on impact.
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The post comes days after she was seen breaking down in court in her trial against LA County over crash-site photos. She explained that she lives in constant fear that the photographs of the bodies of Kobe and their daughter Gianna would one day leak online because they have already been shared intimately. As per the New York Post, she sobbed heavily while testifying how she had to run out of her house so that her daughters did not see her cry after reading a local media report about the leaked photos.
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Vanessa told the court that she was breastfeeding her youngest at the time she read about the leaked photos saying, "I felt like I wanted to run down the block and scream. I can’t escape my body. I can’t escape what I feel. I just remember not wanting to react because the girls were in the room. I live in fear I live in fear every day of seeing on social media and having these images pop up. I don’t ever want to see these photographs. I want to remember them as they were. I don’t want my children to ever come across them."
Another shocking revelation was made last week during the trial when LA Sheriff's Deputy Michael Russell confessed that he texted pictures of the wreckage to Santa Clarita Sheriff's Deputy Ben Sanchez a day after the incident while they were in the middle of a 'Call of Duty' session, as per TMZ. Vanessa is suing Los Angeles County for millions in damages after learning that the first responders clicked and exchanged photos of the accident instead of helping the victims. Many witnesses have even confessed to seeing the crash images, prompting Vanessa to burst into tears.