Christina Mauser was a basketball coach at Harbor Day School in Newport Beach, where late Gianna Bryant attended school.
Kobe Bryant's widow and the mother of his four daughters (one of whom died in the helicopter crash), Vanessa Bryant recently broke her silence on her tragic loss and made the world grieve a little more with her. People around the world weren't even done mourning for the deceased and their families when a heartbroken father opened up about his loss and an uncertain future for his family.
Matt Mauser recently opened up about losing his wife and how parenting three children as young as 11, 9 and 3, without their mom will be tough for him. Christina Mauser, a basketball coach at the Harbor Day School in Newport Beach and a mother, was one of the passengers who lost her life on the fateful day when the helicopter carrying Kobe Bryant and eight others crashed in Calabasas, Los Angeles.
On the Today Show, Matt said, "I got three small kids, and I'm trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom," CBS reported. "I'm scared. I think more than anything I'm a little scared about the future," he added. Matt, who teaches at the same private school as his late wife did, went on to say that she was an "extraordinary" woman.
"She was incredibly witty, funny, funny like nobody you've ever met," he said. "She was warm, she was incredibly bright, she was technologically incredibly savvy. She could figure out anything."
According to CBS, Christina later bagged a stint at the Mamba Academy as an assistant coach alongside Kobe Bryant and trained Gianna. Matt revealed that her amazing talent for the sport allowed her to be recognized. "He [Kobe Bryant] picked her because she was amazing," Matt said. "I was so proud of her and she was so happy."
"He saw what an amazing mind [Christina] had for basketball," he added. "She was an amazing mind of defense for basketball, so he brought her on. They called her the mother of defense, 'MOD.'"
During his telephonic interview with Today, a deeply emotional Matt said that he was totally devastated when he heard the tragic news. "I guess I'm doing as good as you can expect. It's horrible. It's horrible," he said.
He broke down with ABC News and said, "I loved her. It's as simple as that. I loved my wife with everything I had."
"I loved her. It's as simple as that. I loved my wife with everything I had." 💔 Matthew Mauser reflected on the memory of his late wife Christina, who was killed in a helicopter crash in Calabasas. Full story: https://t.co/sb3IjEMsyN pic.twitter.com/wLYFNIYdAW
— ABC7 Eyewitness News (@ABC7) January 28, 2020
Matt was close to Kobe and recalling their days at the Mamba Academy he said, "It was a family. They all really cared about each other." He added, "Kobe took these kids from private school and just made them gritty and tough. He was dedicated and so was my wife. They were dedicated to these girls."
The grieving widower also revealed that they were so anxious that they avoided watching news channels. But when they did watch a sports channel and saw the families of victims mourning, it gave him a sense of relief because he knew that they were not alone in this. "We watched 'SportsCenter' for two seconds and everything was about how much everybody was mourning and hurting and (my daughter) said it was nice to know that everybody was hurting along with us,'' said Mauser. He added, "I know that sounds odd, but that kind of helped."
Christina was headed to a basketball game at Thousand Oaks with the other passengers when the helicopter crashed killing all passengers on board. At the time, Matt shared a deeply upsetting message on Facebook confirming the passing of his wife.
It is indeed a very tough phase for the families of the deceased and our prayers and hearts go out to them!
References:
https://www.today.com/news/husband-coach-killed-kobe-bryant-helicopter-crash-speaks-out-t172543
