By Nehru Odeh
Kobe Bryant’s wife, Vanessa, has posted a heartbreaking photo of her late husband and daughter Gianna as her Instagram profile image . Vanessa , who has has not spoken out since Kobe and their 13-year-old daughter tragically died on Sunday when his helicopter crashed in California, publicly acknowledged their deaths on Wednesday, 29 January 2020 when she changed her Instagram profile photo to one of Kobe and Gianna embracing and smiling at each other.
The photo was taken during an NBA all-star game in Toronto in 2016, which was among his last all-star appearances. Vanessa also switched her Instagram account from private to public on Wednesday.
It is not clear if she made the account, which has more than one million, followers, private before or after the crash. Sources have said Vanessa has been trying to stay strong for their three surviving daughters but is devastated, numb and can barely keep it together.
‘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,’ the source told People.
Bryant met Vanessa back in 1999 when she was 17 and was working as a background model on a music video. They got engaged six months later and married in 2001. The couple have four children together: Gianna, 13, who was killed alongside her father, Natalia, 17, three-year-old Bianka and seven-month-old Capri. Bryant, while alive, often shared heartwarming photos and tributes to his family on social media.