John Travolta pays heartbreaking tribute to late son Jett on his 30th birthday
John Travolta posted a tribute to his late son Jett Travolta on Instagram on Wednesday. The 68-year-old actor posted a black-and-white picture of himself smiling as he held on to his beaming son. Travolta remembered his beloved son Jett on what would have been his 30th birthday.
"My dearest Jetty, I miss you more than words can say. I think about you every day. Happy Birthday. Love, your Dad," Travolta captioned the post. In the image, he is smiling at the camera while resting his chin on Jett's shoulder.
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Jett died in January 2009, at the age of 16, during a trip to the Bahamas after he hit his head on a bathtub following a seizure at their home on Grand Bahama Island. As per reports, he had a history of seizures and was autistic. In 2014, Travolta told US Weekly that his son's death was "the worst thing that's ever happened" in his life. "The truth is, I didn't know if I was going to make it. Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better," the star revealed.
Travolta stated that he "didn't want to wake up," but his faith in religion and his fellow members of the Church of Scientology helped him cope. "I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday. They didn't take a day off, working through different angles of the techniques to get through grief and loss, and to make me feel that finally, I could get through a day," he added.
Travolta's late wife, Kelly Preston had spoken about Jett's experience with autism and Kawasaki Syndrome during a 2012 segment on 'The Doctors' and said, "[Jett] was autistic. He had seizures, and when he was very young, he had Kawasaki Syndrome. The illness is a rare condition, often seen in children, in which the walls of arteries throughout the body become inflamed. I strongly believe as a mother, as does my husband, that there are certain contributing factors that lead to autism, and some of it is very much the chemicals in our environment and in our food."
Travolta announced the news of Preston's death on Instagram in July 2020. The caption said, "It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer. She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Center, all the medical centers that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side. Kelly's love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while. But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal. All my love, JT."
Travolta has two other children, 22-year-old Ella and 11-year-old Benjamin, both of whom he shared with Preston. He misses his wife and often posts images of her on social media. "Dearest Kelly, you brought into my life three of the most wonderful children I have ever known. Thank you. We love and miss you. Happy Mother's Day," reads a post. Another was captioned, "Happy Birthday Kelly. We miss and love you very much."