Terry Crews has said he feels ‘crushed’ after hearing news of Kobe Bryant’s death.
The LA Lakers star, 41, died on Sunday following a helicopter crash in Calabasas. He had been on board with his 13-year-old daughter Gianna, who also lost her life in the tragedy.
Kobe had been taking his daughter to basketball practice when the crash occurred at around 10am. They were two of nine passengers killed.
The basketball star and Gianna, also known as Gigi, are survived by Kobe’s wife Vanessa and the couple’s three other daughters, Natalia, 17, Bianka, three, and Capri, who was born last June.
Remembering Kobe, Terry told Hollywood Life that he too is a father to four girls and his ‘prayers and heart go out’ to Kobe’s family.
‘I didn’t know him personally, but I met him at a few things,’ Terry said. ‘I’m a father, I have a daughter, I have four daughters. I’m crushed, I’m crushed.’
He added: ‘I mean, imagine that family, everything they’re going through right now. That kind of pain is unfathomable. My prayers and my heart and everything I have goes out to the family of Kobe.’
Terry’s wife Rebecca King-Crews said that she had ‘no words’.
‘I don’t even have words. No parent needs to bury their child. I mean, it’s hard enough to lose your husband,’ she said.
‘My mother was widowed young, I lost my dad at six years old in a drunk driving accident. Someone else was driving and took my father’s life. Accidents are one of those things that you hope and pray doesn’t happen to you.’
Rebecca said: ‘I can’t even breathe… I’m praying for Vanessa and her children, as well as for the other families. There are just no words.’
Since news of Kobe’s passing surfaced, tributes have flooded in for the athlete and he was honoured at Sunday night’s Grammy awards.
Alicia Keys moved the audience to tears as she sang with Boys II Men to honour Kobe.
She began the awards by addressing his death and telling the crowd: ‘Here we are together on music’s biggest night celebrating the artists that do it best, but to be honest with you, we’re all feeling crazy sadness right now because earlier today, Los Angeles, America and the whole wide world lost a hero and we’re literally standing here heartbroken in the house that Kobe Bryant built.’
The ceremony took place in the Staples Centre, where Kobe’s former team the LA Lakers play their home games.
An investigation into the helicopter crash is now underway.
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