Coach died in helicopter crash is half-Filipina

The basketball coach who also died with Kobe Bryant, daughter, and seven others in Calabasas helicopter crash yesterday was a half-Filipina, her kin confirmed Tuesday.

Coach died in helicopter crash is half-Filipina
Christina Mauser, a half-Filipina basketball coach, was among the nine passengers who got killed in the helicopter crash in Calabasas on Sunday. (Image from CNN) 

The half-Pinay was the 38-year-old Christina Mauser, a basketball coach at the Mamba Academy that Bryant co-owned, her cousin Melanie Ramil said.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We are beyond heartbroken,” Ramil wrote on Facebook.

Matt Mauser, Christina’s husband, said he and their two children were “devastated” of his wife’s sudden and tragic death.

“I got three small kids and am trying to figure out how to navigate life with three kids and no mom,” her husband, Matt, said during an interview Monday on the “TODAY” show.

ADVERTISEMENT

“We lost our beautiful wife and mom,” he said in a separate Facebook post.

Matt also explained why Kobe chose Christian to be part of Mamba Sports Academy.

“He didn’t choose Christina for just any ordinary reason,” Matt said. “She was extraordinary. She was incredibly witty, funny, funny like nobody you’ve ever met.”

ADVERTISEMENT

Christina is also an assistant girls basketball coach at a K-8 Orange County private school.

Authorities said Kobe’s helicopter flew in foggy weather and crashed in the suburb of Calabasas, killing all nine passengers on board.

Read: Kobe Bryant, 41, daughter Gianna, 13, dead in Calabasas helicopter crash

Local media said the other victims included another player, a parent, and the pilot who were on their way to a basketball game wherein Kobe will serve as a coach.

Reports say Kobe started watching basketball all the time because of her daughter Gianna.

“Before Gigi got into basketball, I hardly watched it, but now that’s she’s into basketball, we watch every night,” Kobe said.

“It wasn’t me sitting there, you know, as an athlete or a player or something like that, and you know it’s like about me, and I don’t like that,” he added. “It was her, she was having such a good time,” Kobe said.