Vanessa Bryant’s life has been turned upside down for over a year now, and she is brought to tears on occasion by her sorrow over the loss of her husband Kobe Bryant and their 13-year-old daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.
In an interview with PEOPLE for this week’s cover story: Women Changing the World issue, she said, “I can’t say that I’m strong every day,” She explains, “I can’t say that there aren’t days when I feel like I can’t survive to the next.”
While the world mourned the NBA legend and “Gigi,” a rising basketball prodigy in her own right, Vanessa, 38, worked diligently to rebuild a life for herself and their three other children: Natalia, 18, Bianka, 4, and Capri, 20 months.
Recently Vanessa has taken over unfinished business at her husband’s multi-media company, Granity Studios. She has also revived Kobe’s non-profit, Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, in honor of the father-daughter pair, to inspire young girls and offer equal opportunities to underserved athletes.
Vanessa displayed remarkable grace and strength while navigating heartbreak and remaining present for her daughters.
She said, “This pain is unimaginable [but] you just have to get up and push forward.” She explained, “Lying in bed crying isn’t going to change the fact that my family will never be the same again. But getting out of bed and pushing forward is going to make the day better for my girls and for me. So that’s what I do.”
Vanessa takes inspiration from Kobe and Gigi as she continues to concentrate on “finding the light in darkness.”
She says, “I guess the best way to describe it is that Kobe and Gigi motivate me to keep going.” Adding that “They inspire me to try harder and be better every day. Their love is unconditional, and they motivate me in so many different ways.”
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