On Friday, Vanessa Bryant paid tribute to her late husband Kobe and daughter Gianna on the fourth anniversary of their deaths in a tragic helicopter crash.
In an Instagram post, Vanessa, 41, shared a photo of Kobe smiling with his arm wrapped around Gianna, sharing “❤️❤️” in the caption. The same photo was shared on the Instagram profile of the Los Angeles Lakers with the caption “Forever 💜.”
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On the morning of January 26, 2020, Kobe, Gianna and seven of their friends boarded a helicopter from John Wayne Airport in Orange County for a basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks. Just 14 miles from their destination, the plane crashed into a Calabasas hill likely due to pilot error, a year-long investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board found. Kobe, Gianna, pilot Ara Zobayan, Christina Mauser, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Sarah Chester and Peyton Chester all died in the crash. Kobe was 41 at the time, and Gianna was 13.
On the first anniversary of their deaths, Vanessa shared a heartfelt message from one of Gianna’s best friends, Audrey. “I love you Aubz (as my Gigi would call you). Thank you so much for sharing some of your lovely memories of my Gigi with me and allowing me to share them here on my game,” Vanessa wrote in the caption.
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Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
She continued: “I will never understand why/how this tragedy could happen to such beautiful, kind and amazing human beings. It still doesn’t feel real. Cob, we did it well. Gigi, you still make mommy proud. I love you!”
Vanessa — who shares three other daughters with Kobe, Natalia, 21, Bianca, 7, and Capri, 4 — spoke with PEOPLE for the 2021 issue of Women Changing the World about how to deal with her “unimaginable” pain. She said: “Laying in bed and crying won’t change the fact that my family will never be the same. But getting out of bed and pushing forward will make the day better for my girls and for me. So that’s what I’m doing.”
To carry on the legacy of her late husband and daughter, Vanessa runs the Mamba and Mambacita Sports Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting underserved child athletes.
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“I want to make Kobe, Gigi, Natalia, Bianca and Capri proud,” she told PEOPLE.
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