Vanessa Bryant Posts Heartbreaking Statement on Instagram

UPDATE: Later in the day Vanessa Bryant also posted a statement for the first time on Instagram, which you can see below.

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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 Jan 29, 2020 at 4:59pm PST

Vanessa Bryant, wife to Kobe, and mother to Gigi, has made her first public acknowledgement since the horrible helicopter crash killed her loved ones on Sunday, January 26th. According to TMZ, Vanessa just changed the profile pic on her Instagram account to show a sweet pic of Kobe and little Gianna from the 2016 NBA All-Star Game in Toronto. This is her first  public acknowledgement of the tragedy, and frankly, I'm surprised she even had the strength to do this.

Her last post on the social media site was three days ago, and shows her young daughter Bianka raiding the fridge for some juice. Clearly this is before they received the news of the crash. Bless this family, and all the others who lost a loved one on that day.