Matt Mauser, whose wife died in a helicopter crash along with Kobe Bryant, his daughter 13-year-old Gianna and six others last year, paid tribute to her during his “America’s Got Talent” audition which aired Tuesday night.
Christina Mauser was a coach at the basketball legend’s Mamba Sports Academy.
Her husband shared during his audition that he and his wife had been teachers before she retired to allow him to pursue music full time. Then a dream job came along.
“She got the opportunity to coach girls’ basketball with Kobe Bryant,” he said. “But on January 26th of 2020, I lost my wife in the same helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant.”
In a pre-taped video, Mauser shared that prior to the crash he and his wife lived a “dreamy” life. They met, he said, in 2004 after she caught his performance in a “dive bar.”
The Audition of Matt Mauser
He asked her out and they sat in his car and talked for hours about music
“She was just this very humble, powerful, beautiful human being,” Mauser said. “My mom said, ‘If you don’t marry that girl, you’re stupid.'”
The two were married for 15 years and had three children. Mauser recalled his last moments with his wife.
“When she left that day, she kissed me and she said, ‘I love you,'” he said tearfully. “And that was the last thing my wife ever said to me. Your whole life changes in a second.”
Mauser said he shifted his focus to their children, who attended the audition.
He performed a cover of Phil Collins’ “Against All Odds (Take A Look At Me Now),” breaking down at the end of the song with the poignant lyrics “take a look at me now, oh there’s just an empty space/And there’s nothin’ left here to remind me/Just the memory of your face.”
Source: CNN
