Boss on the floors, Kobe Bryant also sometimes put his hero cape outside. A moving story, told after his tragic death, illustrates the great kindness of the Mamba. As beautiful as it is sad.
In advance, you can thank Kristen O’Connor Hecht for sharing this story. The woman, who works at St Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, is one day approached by a cardiologist who asks her if she can miraculously acquire a Lakers ball signed by Kobe Bryant for a terminally ill 5 year old boy. If the practitioner asked O’Connor and not someone else, it’s because he knows her husband, Tom, was executive of the Suns at the time. She remembers :
I called Tom and asked him, telling myself that there was no way that was possible. The Lakers came to Phoenix to play there the following week.
One day later, not another one, her husband calls her back: “Kobe is ok! »But the rest of the words of the Suns exec stuck Kristen:
But he doesn’t want to give away balloons. He read the story of the little one, and he wants to come and meet him.
A few days later, therefore, without security and the media having been informed, Kobe goes to the hospital to meet the little boy, face to face. O’Connor says:
For almost an hour, they played basketball, making small passes with Kobe, laughing, with his mother in heaven. Kobe left several autographed items, and many photos were taken. The machines attached to the boy were racing, and his doctor was grinning.
Mission accomplished ? Not for Bryant. Once back in his limousine, still touched by this little guy, Kobe turns to Kristen:
Is there something I can do? Is it a question of money? If so, I can take care of it.
Unfortunately, the illness was too far advanced to save the doomed boy. A few days later, he died surrounded by his family, after having lived his dream. And Kristen O’Connor concludes:
I was overwhelmed not only by Kobe’s sincerity and his offer to help, but also by the kindness and human warmth he displayed. A month later, I received a letter from the little boy’s mother, who told me, “These were the happiest times of his life. The photos are the only ones I have of him where he smiles ”.
According to Kobe’s PR team, he did this very often, but on one condition: no media. From that day forward he has been my hero. When someone tells me they don’t like Kobe, I tell them this story.
Big heart, big man, Kobe Bryant was one of those who never hesitated to do good, even away from the cameras. We miss you, Mamba.
