Losing a child is every parent's worst nightmare. Unfortunately for John Travolta and his late wife, Kelly Preston, they lost their first child, Jett, who was born in 1992 when he was just 16 years old. On Sunday, April 13, the Grease star shared a touching post dedicated to his son on what would have been his 33rd birthday.
"Happy birthday Jett - I miss you so much!" He wrote along with an old photo of him carrying Jett, who sweetly grabbed onto his face. "Love you forever!"
What happened to Jett?
Travolta and Preston got married in 1991, and they welcomed Jett the following year. He was born with autism and had a history of seizures, which they kept private until his passing. As noted by NBC, the condition is not recognized by Scientology, John's religion.
On January 1, 2009, Jett passed away after suffering a seizure while the family was on vacation in the Bahamas. He hit his head on a bathtub and was found unresponsive.
Following his passing, two men were accused of blackmailing and trying to extort $25M from John with information about the incident, and they went to trial. During the case, the actor said he tried to perform CPR on him. "I ran downstairs with my wife to help my son," John said. The case ended in a mistrial.
In a rare 2012 interview, Preston spoke about Jett’s autism on The Doctors, saying, "He had seizures when he was very young, he had Kawasaki Syndrome. 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."
They also welcomed Ella Bleu, 25, who is now an actress and singer, and Benjamin, who will turn 15 this year in November. That would sadly not be the only tragic loss for John and his family. Preston passed away in 2020 after a private battle with breast cancer.
The Jett Travolta foundation
John and Kelly launched the Jett Travolta Foundation in February 2009 to honor their son and support children with special needs. According to its site, the foundation helps kids with everything from mobility and communication challenges to learning and behavioral needs.
It also focuses on raising awareness around environmental health, offers support to children affected by disasters, and provides grief counseling to families coping with loss.