‘Our dreams die with them’: Carrie Bickmore reveals she wept over the death of NBA star Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna
Carrie Bickmore has revealed that she cried over the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who were killed in a helicopter crash last month.
The Project host wrote in her column for Stellar on Saturday: ‘It made me cry thinking of his widowed wife and children, but also imagining this basketball-playing behemoth as an innocent six-year-old boy with seemingly unreachable dreams.’
The 39-year-old went on to reflect on the impact that the NBA star had on the public.
Emotional: Carrie Bickmore (pictured) revealed in her Stellar column on Saturday that she cried over the death of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who were killed in a helicopter crash last month
She wrote: ‘Heroes are so important. Their stories give us hope as we shoot hoops in the backyard or sit for hours in front of a piano. They’re a promise of what might be.
‘A little part of our dreams die with them. But his passing is a reminder that it’s never too late. We should go about everything we do like that six-year-old version of ourselves chasing a dream.’
The 41-year-old NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died along with seven others on January 26, when their Sikorsky S-76 helicopter came down in Calabasas, California, and immediately caught fire.
Tragic: The 41-year-old NBA legend and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died along with seven others on January 26 when the Sikorsky S-76 helicopter came down in Calabasas, California, and immediately caught fire. Kobe and Gianna are pictured in 2016
The Project host wrote: ‘It made me cry thinking of his widowed wife and children, but also imagining this basketball-playing behemoth as an innocent six-year-old boy with seemingly unreachable dreams.’ Kobe and Gianna are pictured in December 2019
Kobe’s helicopter pilot was told he was ‘too low’ as he flew through thick fog moments before slamming into a hillside in a crash which killed all nine on board.
Flight data shows the aircraft appearing to get into trouble near the LA Zoo, where it circled for 15 minutes amid foggy weather which had forced Los Angeles police to ground their fleet.
Dozens of firefighters and paramedics battled across steep terrain to reach the flaming wreckage at the crash site but found no survivors, officials said.
Carrie added: ‘Heroes are so important. Their stories give us hope as we shoot hoops in the backyard or sit for hours in front of a piano. They’re a promise of what might be. A little part of our dreams die with them.’ Pictured together in December 2019
Kobe was believed to be heading to the Mamba Academy he founded in Thousand Oaks to watch his basketball prodigy daughter Gianna ‘Gigi’ Bryant, who was flying with her team-mates Alyssa Altobelli and Payton Chester.
Alyssa and Payton also died in the crash alongside Alyssa’s parents John and Keri Altobelli, Payton’s mother Sarah Chester, girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan.
Kobe and Gianna were laid to rest side-by-side at a private ‘family estate’ burial plot at Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, California.
Crash site: Alyssa and Payton also died in the crash alongside Alyssa’s parents John and Keri Altobelli, Payton’s mother Sarah Chester, girls’ basketball coach Christina Mauser and pilot Ara Zobayan