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No, this is not a video of Gianna Bryant in the hospital
A video claims to show Gianna Bryant being ushered through a hospital, surrounded by medical staff. But that didn’t happen.
Bryant died with her father Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash on Jan. 26.
The next day, a video titled, "Kobe Bryant Daughter Gianna Bryant Final Hours" was uploaded to YouTube. The video shows a young girl laying motionless on a hospital bed. She is slowly moved down a hallway lined with doctors and nurses in the first part of the video, and in the second she is surrounded by hospital staff and mourners.
The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) Together, they’ve been shared thousands of times. As of Jan. 28, the video has 485,771 views on YouTube and 112,600 likes on the original TikTok it appeared in.
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While this video does feature a young woman who was killed in an accident, that woman is 28-year-old Ariana Cervantes. The original video was titled "Ariana’s Honor Walk" and was uploaded to YouTube on Sept. 4, 2019.
The Pacific Attorney Group reported that Cervantes was one of two people killed by a traffic collision on Aug. 28, 2019, in Downey, Calif. She died two days later in the hospital. The video description says that Cervantes was an organ donor who received an honor walk, a ritual described by the New York Times as a way to show respect to dying patients planning to donate their organs.
The full version of this video was uploaded more than four months before Gianna Bryant’s death. We rate this claim Pants On Fire.
Our Sources
Youtube video, Kobe Bryant Daughter Gianna Bryant Final Hours, Jan. 27, 2020
TikTok video, Jan. 27, 2020
Youtube video, Ariana’s Honor Walk, Sept. 4, 2019
Pacific Attorney Group, Ariana Cervantes Killed in Downey Pedestrian Accident at Imperial Highway and Barlin Avenue, Sept 11, 2019
Tim Lahey, Rituals of Honor in Hospital Hallways, April 2, 2019
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No, this is not a video of Gianna Bryant in the hospital
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