Kobe Bryant and his daughter, Gianna, visited their church and took communion Sunday hours before the fatal helicopter flight that took their lives, ABC-7 reports.
What’s going on: Father Steve Sallot, a Eucharist priest at the Our Lady Queen of Angels church where Bryant and his family attended church, told ABC-7 that he saw Bryant hours before the final crash.
- Kobe and Gianna visited the church where they took communion.
- Father Sallot: “He was here before the 7 a.m. mass and that’s our first mass of the day. So he would obviously have been in the prayer chapel before that and he was leaving about 10 to 7.”
- The crash occurred at about 9:45 a.m. PT.
- Members of the church gathered together Monday to pray for Bryant.
More details: Bryant visited the church regularly. His fellow members reflected on him during interviews with NBC Los Angeles.
- Parishioner Rosemary Egkan: “He will be missed — his spirit, his joy, his smile.”
- Julie Hermes said he spent time with his children at the church. “He was showering them with cupcakes, and he put them in car seats and buckled them in so carefully.”
- Heny Russell: “When I give him communion I have to put my arm and feet up like that so I can reach him.”
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Final thoughts: Bishop Timothy Freyer said Kobe spent much of his time in “in the back of the church so that his presence would not distract people from focusing on Christ’s presence.”
- Bishop Freyer: “Please join me in praying for the victims. May God grant their loved ones peace and bring them comfort during these difficult times.”