Travolta family get ready to fly home
- 00:01:38
- ITN
Travolta family get ready to fly home
Actor John Travolta's son, Jett, died from "seizure disorder," officials have confirmed. Police Commissioner Reginald Ferguson said the results of the autopsy would not be made public because "there is nothing criminal about the situation." Jett, 16, had a history of seizures and was found unconscious in a bathroom at his family's home in the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island on Friday morning. He was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport. Keith McSweeney, funeral director for the Restview Memorial Mortuary in Freeport, where the boy's body was sent after the autopsy, said the death certificate listed "seizure disorder" as the cause of death. Dozens of relatives flew to Grand Bahama to comfort John Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston. The couple, who also have an eight-year-old daughter, Ella, issued a statement on Sunday saying they were heartbroken by the loss of their son. "Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered," Travolta said in the statement. "We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time that we had with him for the rest of our lives." Travolta and paramedics tried without success to resuscitate the boy. The family's statement did not refer to Jett's medical history or possible cause of death. But Travolta's lawyers, Michael Ossi and Michael McDermott, were quoted as saying Jett apparently suffered from grand mal seizures, which can cause loss of consciousness. He was on an anti-seizure medication called Depakote for several years, Ossi and McDermott said. They said the drug's use was suspended after it lost its effectiveness amid concern about side effects, however, and that Jett had been suffering about one extremely serious seizure a week.
ITN | January 6, 2009
