Vanessa Bryant Reflects On Experience With Grief: Find Your Reason To Live

Vanessa Bryant

Vanessa Bryant Reflects On Experience With Grief: Find Your Reason To Live

Vanessa Bryant is reflecting on grief as the one-year anniversary of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant’s tragic death nears.

The NBA icon and his daughter were two of nine victims who died in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26th, 2020.

Gianna Bryant, Kobe Bryant

Vanessa Bryant shared her experience with grief after suffering the unthinkable and wrote in an Instagram story:

“Let me be real – Grief is a messed up cluster of emotions. One day you’re in the moment laughing and the next day you don’t feel like being alive.”

She continued:

“I want to say this for people struggling with grief and heartbreaking loss. Find your reason to live. I know it’s hard. I look at my daughters and I try to push through that feeling for them.”

She ended with:

“Death is guaranteed but living the rest of the day isn’t. Find your reason.”

In a separate post, she requested the media be respectful when covering the upcoming one-year anniversary of the tragedy. She asked publications not to post footage of the crash site.

She wrote:

“I want to thank everyone that has handled their media coverage respectfully. ??To everyone else, please reconsider your “news story” and look at your footage through the eyes of their children , parents, spouse, siblings and family. Celebrate their lives, not the day they lost them. In preparation of 1/26, Scroll”

Vanessa Bryant is currently suing the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department after deputies allegedly shared photos of the crash site.

Eight deputies allegedly shot cellphone photos of the bodies of Kobe Bryant and Gianna Bryant at the site for their own personal gratification.

In the lawsuit, Vanessa Bryant said that the leaked photos caused her “severe emotional distress.”

She added that the photos were the center of discussion within the sheriff’s department as it was shared with other colleagues who were not involved in the investigation.

Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant

The photos were allegedly exposed when one deputy was at a bar and he showed the graphic pictures to a woman trying to impress her. A bartender allegedly overheard the conversation and called the sheriff’s department with a tip of what was heard.

Vanessa Bryant states in the lawsuit that Sheriff Alex Villanueva tried to cover it up by telling the deputies if they deleted the photos, no further discipline would come, in order to destruct the evidence. Sheriff Villanueva reportedly did not let the families know about the photos, and the families instead found out on social media.

She also added in the lawsuit that Sheriff Villanueva never gave the families straight answers about how the photos were taken and Vanessa Bryant fears that they will leak online.

The court documents state:

“Ms. Bryant feels ill at the thought of strangers gawking at images of her deceased husband and child, and she lives in fear that she or her children will one day confront horrific images of their loved ones online.”

The lawsuit also asks for an undisclosed amount in damages, as well as punitive damages.