Kobe Bryant statue placed at site of helicopter crash

Sculptor Dan Medina took a statue of Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna to the site of their helicopter crash on the two-year anniversary of the tragedy.

The 73kg bronze statue is temporary but Medina hopes a permanent version is sited in a prominent Los Angeles spot.

He took the statue to the California site, where nine people died, from dawn to dusk on Wednesday.

«This is all on my own, no-one asked me to do it,» said Medina.

«On this day, the second anniversary of the accident, I decided to bring it up from sunrise to sunset and create a bit of a healing process for fans.

»Today was special because I witnessed a lot of that. People would come up and they would leave with some sort of satisfaction."

The names of the nine victims of the crash are engraved on the statue's base, which also includes an inscription of Bryant's famous quote 'Heroes come and go, but legends are forever'.