Kobe Bryant’s tragic death leaves an impact on fans, community

It’s about the universal love that is experienced by most people in this world. Family. Whether our family consists of our pets, our parents, our friends or our siblings, most of us share a love with someone other than ourselves. But, most of us fail to acknowledge how lucky we are to live another day on this land we call earth.

On January 26, 2020, a helicopter crashed on a hillside in Calabasas, CA, 10 minutes away from my childhood home and 15 minutes away from my high school.

There were nine people on board, not one of them survived. An NBA legend, three teenagers, four parents and an experienced pilot vanished in flames with no chance of survival.

Kobe Bryant, 41, and seven others were being flown to Mamba Academy in Thousand Oaks for a youth basketball tournament. Ara Zobayan, 50, was the pilot of Kobe’s Sikorsky S-76B helicopter that crashed just before 10 a.m. Gianna Bryant, 13, Alyssa Altobelli, 13, and Payton Chester, 13, were about to play a game while Kobe Bryant and Christina Mauser, 38, were going to coach a game. Parents John Altobelli, 56, Keri Altobelli, 46, and Sarah Chester, 45, were also on the helicopter.

Social media lit up minutes after the news broke. Celebrities posted photos of the Bryant family and asked that strength be provided to Vanessa Bryant, Kobe Bryant’s wife, and the three young girls he and their sister left behind.

This was the kind of accident that nobody expected. It was not supposed to happen and families were not supposed to lose their loved ones that day.

I am a Los Angeles native, I am a Laker fan and I am a Kobe fan but this accident hit me differently. The crash happened in a community I know very well. Not only that, I have two brothers and I have parents.

To think that mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers suddenly lost a family member they love so dearly is heartbreaking to me. Seven-month-old Capri Bryant and sixteen-year-old Alexis Altobelli have a life ahead of them that they now have to maneuver through without a father and sister, and parents and sister.

Many have mentioned the lack of conversation around Kobe Bryant’s 2003 sexual assault case.

I get it, he had a downfall in his career and it shouldn’t be overlooked but this unfortunate occurrence that is greatly affecting his loved ones should not be overshadowed.

We never know what will happen tomorrow, so as cliché as it sounds we have to live in the moment and appreciate every day we have on earth.