Home Highlight The tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other passengers have shaken the whole world

The tragic death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter and seven other passengers have shaken the whole world

by Grace Sundram

It is no doubt that the world is still in shock from the passing of the basketball prodigy, Kobe Bryant, Gianna, his 13-year-old daughter and seven other passengers that included the pilot, Ara Zobayan; the college baseball coach John Altobelli and Altobelli’s wife, Keri, and daughter Alyssa; Christina Mauser, a basketball coach; and Sarah and Payton Chester, a mother and daughter who lived in Orange County.

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The helicopter took off on Sunday morning from Orange County and circled near Burbank waiting for clearance to fly through the airspace that was said to be as thick as swimming in a pool of milk. After getting a Special Visual Flight Rules clearance from the air traffic control at Burbank Airport, the helicopter proceeded through Burbank’s foggy airspace in Southern California.

A witness named Scott Daehlin was coming out from a church in the Canyon at 9:40 a.m. on Sunday that happened to be across the crash site. According to his statement, he wasn’t able to see anything through the thick fog. “It sounded almost like the pilot was hovering, trying to find his way,” said Daehlin, who said his father was a pilot. He added “I had a sinking feeling in my stomach, and I was saying, ‘Get some altitude.’” when that was when he heard a loud noise and saw smoke from the crash.

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With all that said, it just seems surreal that a tragedy like this had happened.

Kobe Bryant was an excellent American professional basketball player that played the position of a shooting guard. He had played his entire 20-season career in the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers and won five NBA championships.

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It all started in the Philadelphia suburb of Lower Merion where he became a star at Lower Merion High School, accumulating 2,883 points to become the all-time leading scorer in Southeastern Pennsylvania high school history. The basketball prodigy was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers straight out of high school with the 13th overall pick in the draft. And in time, Kobe Bryant became the youngest All-Star in NBA history at just 19 years old.

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As the news surfaced, fans of the Black Mamba all around the world began to realize that one of the best basketball players is no longer with us. Everyone took their emotions and gratitudes to social media to thank the Black Mamba for being part of their lives as well as highlighting their favourite memories of him.

Life is indeed short, so make every moment count. Go hug your loved ones, spend some quality time with them, forgive the past and move on with the future because the clock is ticking. We will never know what can happen tomorrow. 

Images via Kobe Bryant, Page Six, Getty Images (David McNew), @spazzy.emsly and @soy_carlitosg

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