Kobe Bryant’s widow Vanessa is trying to stay ‘strong’ for their 3 surviving daughters after tragic helicopter crash
KOBE Bryant’s devastated widow Vanessa is reportedly trying to be “strong” for their 3 surviving daughters after the tragic helicopter crash. Kobe, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, died in a shocking Calabasas crash on Sunday when a chopper smashed into a Los Angeles hillside, killing seven others. Vanessa is now a single parent to daughters […]
KOBE Bryant’s devastated widow Vanessa is reportedly trying to be “strong” for their 3 surviving daughters after the tragic helicopter crash.
Kobe, 41, and his daughter Gianna, 13, died in a shocking Calabasas crash on Sunday when a chopper smashed into a Los Angeles hillside, killing seven others.
Vanessa is now a single parent to daughters Natalia, 17, Bianka, 3, and 7-month-old Capri after the shocking accident claimed the lives of her husband and child.
Speaking about how the 37-year-old is coping, a family friend told PEOPLE it’s “an extremely difficult and devastating time” for the Bryant family.
“She can hardly keep it together,” another insider noted. “She can’t finish a sentence without crying. But she is working very hard to pull it together for the other girls.”
“She now has to be the strong one,” they told the publication. “Of course, you can never be prepared for this. Despite their ups and downs, [they] were soulmates.
“She thought of him as her partner for life,” the second source added, noting Vanessa is “relying on her faith” after last weekend’s death plunge.
They highlighting Vanessa’s strong support system who are rallying around the Bryant family as they deal with the loss of Kobe and Gianna.
They died alongside college baseball coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri, and their daughter Alyssa who all lost their lives in the fiery carnage.
Coach Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester and her daughter and Payton, and pilot Ara Zobayan were also killed when the chopper smashed into a hill.
PEOPLE previously reported Vanessa vowed she would never fly with Kobe when he was using his helicopter.
The source said: “He and Vanessa had a deal that they would never fly on a helicopter together.”
Insiders say Kobe would only use pilot Ara Zobayan who was also killed en route to the Mamba Academy as he flew the aircraft in foggy conditions.
The basketball star said he used helicopters while he played for the Los Angeles Lakers to spend less time in traffic and more time with family.
All nine bodies have now been recovered from the helicopter crash site after devastating photos of the charred and blazing debris emerged yesterday.
Officials told The Sun the remains of the deceased have been taken away from the Los Angeles hillside and will undergo coroner’s office examinations in the coming days..
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So far the bodies have not been identified, and authorities told the Los Angeles Times that the process could go on for several days.
Photos from the crash scene show the devastating wreck and the surrounding debris engulfed in flames.
Zobayan said he was struggling to avoid cloud before plunging a 1,000 feet into a hillside, a crash investigator has revealed.
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