NASSAU (Reuters) – The teenage son of actor John Travolta died suddenly on Friday during a family vacation in the Bahamas, according to the family’s lawyer.
Jett Travolta, 16, suffered a seizure at his family’s vacation home at the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island, attorney Michael Ossi said.
Attempts were made to revive him, but he died at the scene, Ossi said.
Jett, who had a history of seizures, was the eldest child of Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston. They also have a daughter, Ella Blue, who was born in 2000.
Star Magazine: There have long been reports that Jett was autistic, through John and Kelly denied it, saying that he instead suffers from Kawasaki Disease, a relatively rare illness which could cause heart problems. In an interview with USA Today in 2002, Kelly recalled her son’s diagnosis after he became “very, very sick with high fever and swollen glands and peeling fingers and rash all over his body” eight years earlier.
John, who named one of his many airplanes after his son, has said the boy loved “the outdoors — sports, swimming, bike riding, hiking.”
In recent years, John and Kelly have talked about their desire to expand their family, which includes an 8-year-old daughter Ella, saying sleepless nights with a new baby wouldn’t faze them at all. “Kelly and I used to race to see who could get to Jett first,” he told Reader’s Digest.
