By Joe
A father in Iowa recalled the time that Kobe Bryant gifted his cancer-stricken son a game-worn jersey just three months before the teen passed away.
Billy Thorington, whose son Cody Thorington was a huge fan of Kobe, told Ohio’s KHO-TV that his son was buried with the jersey that Kobe gifted him in 2007.
“It was amazing. It was really amazing for Cody. They flew us down there and gave us a rental car everything,” the dad recalled.
“Kobe gave him his jersey that he wore that night. I folded it up and put it in his casket so it’s with him.”
The father said the Make-A-Wish foundation arranged for him and his 13-year-old to attend a game in Los Angeles where Bryant scored 23 points.
The dad said the star gave his son a reprieve from his illness by being so kind.
“Friendly, it was like he knew us,” he said of Kobe.
“His wife was there and all the cheerleaders. Everybody was really friendly.”
Cody lost his battle against cancer just three months later but his father recalls those happy moments.
“You look at those pictures right there he’s got a smile from ear to ear,” the dad said.
“I was really happy to see my kid being that happy. It was like one of his dreams come true…. he’s an amazing person. He really is. On and off the court.”
Bryant and his daughter Gianna were killed along with seven other people when the helicopter they were riding in crashed into a mountain near Calabasas, California.
