According to news reports, Jett, the chronically ill 16-year-old son of John Travolta and wife Kelly Preston, died last Friday from blunt force trauma after suffering a seizure and hitting his head in the bathroom during a family vacation in my homeland of The Bahamas.
(Jett is pictured in this recent photo with his parents and little sister Ella Bleu)
My compatriots and I join Travolta’s fans from around the world in expressing heartfelt condolences to him and his family as they grieve this tragic loss.
We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time we had with him for the rest of our lives… Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered.
(Travolta family statement)
Of course, given the international media frenzy that followed the death of Anna Nicole Smith and her son Daniel in our country in 2007, Bahamian authorities are understandably sensitive about any reporting that casts aspersions on the performance of our police, paramedics and other medical professionals dealing with this tragedy.
But as the manner of his death is generally assumed to have been an accident, much is being made of what the autopsy will reveal as the cause. To prevent any second-guessing in this respect, however, the minister of health, Dr. Hubert Minnis, announced that a renowned forensic pathologist from the United States will be joining our Bahamian medical examiner in conducting the autopsy, which will be performed later today.
That said, there’s no denying the speculation that always surrounded Jett’s illness – with informed sources indicating that he did not suffer from the rare Kawasaki Syndrome as Travolta claimed, but from the more commonly diagnosed autism. Not to mention critics who blame Travolta’s reliance on treatments prescribed by the tenets of his controversial religion, Scientology, instead of those prescribed by traditional medical practitioners for Jett’s chronic illness.
Most titillating of all however is the controversy brewing over the reportedly intimate relationship Travolta had with Jeff Michael Kathrein – one of the two nurses who provided 24/7 care for Jett. And it only fueled utterly unfounded suspicions of foul play when reports revealed that Kathrein was the one who discovered Jett’s body.
Whatever the case, Travolta and his wife clearly loved their son and no doubt provided the best care for him that money could buy. And I’m sure that Bahamian authorities will do everything possible to ensure their peace and quiet as they make arrangements to fly Jett’s body back to their home in Florida by midweek for burial.
Farewell Jett
Related Articles:
Anna Nicole Smith’s autopsy report: much ado about nothing
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.