Guest MonkeySee Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 I was saddened by the death of John Travolta's 16 year old son. I grew up watching Travolta in "Welcome Back Kotter" and feel sorry for his loss. NASSAU, Bahamas - John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after apparently suffering a seizure and hitting his head at his family's vacation home, authorities said Friday. A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning. He was taken by ambulance to a Freeport hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Police Superintendent Basil Rahming said in a statement. The teenager had last been seen entering the bathroom on Thursday and had a history of seizures, according to the statement. An autopsy is planned. Jett apparently hit his head on the bathtub, said a police officer who declined to be named because she was not authorized to speak on the matter. Family attorney Michael Ossi said in a statement that Jett died suddenly on Friday. Publicists Samantha Mast and Paul Bloch released the statement but could not be reached for additional comment. Jett was the oldest child of Travolta, 54, and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, 46, who also have an 8-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu. Preston and Travolta have said that Jett became very sick when he was 2 years old and was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, an illness that leads to inflammation of the blood vessels in young children. She blamed household cleaners and fertilizers, and said that a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine. Both Travolta and Preston are practicing Scientologists. "I was obsessive about his space being cleaned. We constantly had the carpets cleaned," Travolta said in a 2001 interview with CNN's Larry King, a portion of which was rebroadcast on the "Larry King Live" show Friday night. During that interview, when Jett was 9, Travolta spoke of how his son nearly died when he was 2. It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medications for his seizures. The Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns. The family had arrived in the Bahamas on a private plane Tuesday and was vacationing at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community. "The Travolta family has become like family to us at Old Bahama Bay and we extend our deepest sympathies to them," said Robert Gidel, president of Ginn Resorts, the property's owner. Travolta's corporate and commercial attorney, Michael McDermott, said the actor had a very strong relationship with his son. "There was unspoken communication between the two. ... It's just so hard," he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Kelly is very quiet and both are grieving." McDermott said his family and other friends are with the couple in the Bahamas. The group came for a two-day New Year's celebration and had planned to return to Florida on Sunday. "We're are all here and trying to help in any way we can," McDermott said. "Their pain is so evident." Obie Wilchcombe, a parliament member and former tourism minister in the Bahamas, said Travolta "spent a tremendous amount of time with Jett." "He always brought him along. There was a close affectionate relationship and lots of love," Wilchcombe told "Larry King Live" in a live telephone interview. "People in the old Bahama community today are in shock." Wilchcombe said that an autopsy is planned for Monday, and "we expect a quick resolution." "John spoke with the minister of health and the doctors and police are at the hospital. They're very, very quick to resolve things," he said. Travolta, who gained fame as Vinnie Barbarino on the 1970s television show "Welcome Back, Kotter" and the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever," went on to become one of Hollywood's biggest names. He married Preston in 1991. A television actress, Preston appeared with Travolta in the 2000 film "Battlefield Earth," based on a novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Wilchcombe said the Travoltas had invited 60 friends for the New Year's holiday weekend. "They're needed today more than ever before," he said. _____ Associated Press Writers Josh Dickey in Los Angeles, Lisa Orkin Emmanuel in Miami and Kathy Corcoran in Mexico City contributed to this report. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lvdkeyes Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 It is extremely sad when a child dies before his parents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 It is very sad. That said, I wonder whose son it actually is. It's fairly not well kept secret that John doesn't have sex with women. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fountainhall Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 With all respect, I do think slackersam's comment is out of order at this particular time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 My appologies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonkeySee Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I wonder if Travolta's belief in Scientology entered into the equation? Not sure if the Scientologist believe in medication. Perhaps a perscription for seizure-related medicine could have prevented this tragedy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lvdkeyes Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 I wonder if Travolta's belief in Scientology entered into the equation? Not sure if the Scientologist believe in medication. Perhaps a perscription for seizure-related medicine could have prevented this tragedy? I don't know if he was on medication for the seizures, but even people who are taking medication for seizures occasionally have seizures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Astrrro Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 That said, I wonder whose son it actually is. It seemed as if Dad and son looked quite a bit alike based on the pic in the paper. As for Scientology; it gets a bad rap. No better or worse than Christianity, Islam, etc. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 4, 2009 Share Posted January 4, 2009 Gawker has an article that raises some creepy questions about the death. http://gawker.com/5122788/travoltas-rumore...overed-dead-son Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonkeySee Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 More news reported on Yahoo: John Travolta's lawyers -- who are close family friends -- reveal to Usmagazine.com that Jett may have died in his father's arms Friday. "Yesterday was the worst day of [John's] life," Travolta's lawyer and confidant, Michael McDermott, and Michael Ossi, the family's attorney, tell Us in a phone interview (during which they asked all quotes to be jointly attributed). Us: How is John doing? Ossi and McDermott: "John is distraught. He is trying to understand and reconcile this. He is seeking an explanation so that this makes sense to him. And his loved ones are trying to provide that to him. "Yesterday was the worst day of his life. Today is probably equally as bad, and if not, it's the second worst day of his life. "John is recognizing the outpouring of support he has got from both the U.S. and the world. He can feel the love and he says it makes him stronger and hopefully it allows him to reconcile. "He is undergoing the pain any father would if they lost his son. Generally a son buries his father, and John thought that would be the way it would go with Jett, not the other way around. "He is in shock. He is emotionally distraught. He is going through many different feelings of disbelief and anger. It's going to take a while for him to feel good again. This is the most traumatic thing that has ever happened to him and he needs to go through a process of healing. John and Kelly are suffering total misery. They were so close to their son. This is hard to accept. "He had set a vacation for his employees and friends. Forty-nine adults and their children were coming here [to the Bahamas] from Jan. 2nd to 4th. We were all so excited to spend some days with John. We were on the plane and we had no idea, and then we landed and we found out. Every year he holds a party for friends and employees and this year he had the idea to fly us all to his condo. We were planning to hang out on the beach, go for boat rides and spend time with the family. Us: Have John and Kelly spent time with anyone since everyone arrived? Ossi and McDermott: "John and Kelly have been pretty much locked away. "We are staying here until John leaves. The autopsy should be on Monday. Us: How is Jett's 8-year-old sister, Ella Bleu, taking it? Ossi and McDermott: "John broke the news to Ella. She is heartbroken. She is in disbelief, but it is starting to sink in. She has been asking where her brother is. She was so close to Jett. The whole family were so close. They went everywhere together. If John made a movie, they were all there with him. Us: It's been reported that Jett was left alone for several hours before being discovered. Can you clarify the timeline? Ossi and McDermott: "Jett was not left alone. He had a nanny present at all times. The nanny was sleeping close to Jett's room. There was a baby monitor, a chime on the door so it was known when Jett was going in and out. He was completely supervised. The nanny found him. Us: Is it true that Jett died in John's arms? Ossi and McDermott: "Jett may have still been alive when John administered CPR, and then the EMT took over. Jett was pronounced dead at the hospital. I like to believe John had a chance to say goodbye. He may have died in his dad's arms. I am not certain." Us: It's been said Jett had a history of seizures. How often did he have them? Ossi and McDermott: "I am not confident to talk about that. I know he had a history, which of course warranted the extra attention." Us: You obviously knew Jett well. What was his personality like? Ossi and McDermott: "He was a wonderful boy. He had physical limitations, but when he looked in his dad's eyes, the love was tangible. When he grabbed onto his dad, he did not want to let him go." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest fountainhall Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I wonder if Travolta's belief in Scientology entered into the equation? Speculation is clearly going to continue for some time on this one. I know almost nothing about scientology other than it does have some unusual views on certain types of illness. What I find odd about this sad case is the family spokespeople inisisting that the boy did not have autism. Instead they claim he was a victim of kawasaki disease. CNN's medical correspondent explained the other day that kawasaki disease is an illness found in children usually under the age of around 5 or 6. Properly treated, it will disappear within a couple of weeks. Left untreated, it can lead to serious complications that will affect the heart. If the boy was suffering from the effects of a childhood bout of kawasaki disease, clearly there could be some on-going medical problem. Could that be a result of lack of treatment whilst a child - in accordance perhaps with some scientology belief? On the other hand, it seems somewhat strange that he had to have round-the-clock nursing care, a baby monitor and a chime on the bathroom door - and that he appeared in video footage as slightly obese. This would seem to suggest that there was something more serious wrong with him. But this is pure speculation. Perhaps the autopsy results - if made public - will provide some answers. In the meantime, it is obviously a desperately sad time for his family and friends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I find it odd and worrying that instead of having a medical professional looking after their sick son they instead had John's lover working as a "nanny" for him. It seems pretty clear the guy was lax in his care - as some reports suggest the boy was alone in that bathroom for a long, long time before anyone checked on him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lvdkeyes Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 I find it odd and worrying that instead of having a medical professional looking after their sick son they instead had John's lover working as a "nanny" for him. It seems pretty clear the guy was lax in his care - as some reports suggest the boy was alone in that bathroom for a long, long time before anyone checked on him. It isn't necessary for a medical profession to care for a person who has seizures; just someone who is trained in what to do in case of a seizure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Right, but this dude, it appears, wasn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonkeySee Posted January 5, 2009 Share Posted January 5, 2009 Right, but this dude, it appears, wasn't. Perhaps, he was or maybe he wasn't. It is hard to be with a 16 year old all the time, especially in the bathroom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonkeySee Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 An interesting twist to a tragic story. Thailand is not the only country that you have corrupt authorities. NASSAU, Bahamas - Authorities in the Bahamas have charged an island lawmaker and detained two other people in an alleged plot to extort money from actor John Travolta after the death of his son, police said Friday. Two of the suspects ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne and former tourism minister Obie Wilchcombe were detained on Friday. Earlier, several tabloids quoted Lightbourne describing efforts to revive the celebrity's chronically ill son, Jett, who died of a seizure this month at their family vacation home on Grand Bahama. Sen. Pleasant Bridgewater, an attorney from Grand Bahama, was arrested on Thursday. She was charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort and released Friday on $40,000 bail, according to Assistant Superintendent of Police Loretta Mackey. Authorities said Travolta filed a complaint of attempted extortion but they did not reveal what the allegations involved. The actor and his wife Kelly Preston returned home to Florida with the ashes of their 16-year-old son, and Travolta's publicist Paul Bloch said Friday that he has no comment. Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police Marvin Dames said Lightbourne the ambulance driver was detained after police issued an alert that he was wanted for attempted extortion, was "considered dangerous and should be approached with caution." Lightbourne remained in police custody late Friday and was assisting police, according to a police statement. Wilchcombe, a member of the Bahamas parliament and an ex-tourism minister, was arrested Friday in connection with the complaint, questioned by police and released "pending further investigations," Mackey said. Wilchcombe has described himself as a friend of Travolta who was with the actor shortly after his son died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Did they ever find that high school girl that disappeared from there a couple years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MonkeySee Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Did they ever find that high school girl that disappeared from there a couple years ago? I think that is the Natalie Hollaway case and a different island. Wasn't that Aruba? These are the same authorities that did such a fine job in the Nicole Smith fiasco. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest slackersam Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I can't keep my corrupt island straight in my head. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
