Cheryl J
techmanJohn Travolta's Son Dead - Another victim of Scientology?
January 3rd 2009 11:19
John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died while holidaying with his family in the Bahamas suffering a seizure and hitting his head on the bathtub, authorities said on Friday.
A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom in the 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.
Publicists Samantha Mast and Paul Block 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 eight-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.
Preston has said that Jett became sick when he was two 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 fertilisers, and said a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine.
It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medications for his seizures.
The Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles declined to comment.
Both Travolta and Preston are practicing scientologists.
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 on Tuesday and was holidaying at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.
My heart goes out to the family. The death of one so young is a horrible tragedy but it will be interesting to see if Jett was taking medication to control the seizures that were part of his illness. With both parents being avid Scientologists - which is notoriously against many medications and conventional medicine - one wonders if important medications were withheld from him. Could Jett Travolta be yet another tragic death clocked up to the misguided beliefs of Scientology? I certainly hope not.
Losing a child would be bad enough, knowing that it may have been preventable and as a parent you did not provide everything necessary to keep your child healthy and alive would be an awful cross to bear.
Info sourced from smh.com.au
John, Kelly and Jett
A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom in the 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.
Publicists Samantha Mast and Paul Block 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 eight-year-old daughter, Ella Bleu.
Preston has said that Jett became sick when he was two 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 fertilisers, and said a detoxification program based on teachings from the Church of Scientology helped improve his health, according to People magazine.
It is unclear whether Jett was taking any medications for his seizures.
The Scientology Celebrity Center in Los Angeles declined to comment.
Both Travolta and Preston are practicing scientologists.
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 on Tuesday and was holidaying at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.
My heart goes out to the family. The death of one so young is a horrible tragedy but it will be interesting to see if Jett was taking medication to control the seizures that were part of his illness. With both parents being avid Scientologists - which is notoriously against many medications and conventional medicine - one wonders if important medications were withheld from him. Could Jett Travolta be yet another tragic death clocked up to the misguided beliefs of Scientology? I certainly hope not.
Losing a child would be bad enough, knowing that it may have been preventable and as a parent you did not provide everything necessary to keep your child healthy and alive would be an awful cross to bear.
Info sourced from smh.com.au
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Comment by Janet Collins
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Good post, Cheryl.
Comment by Cheryl J
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I really hope he was medicated and this was just a tragic accident and not something that was easily preventable with modern medicine.
My thoughts go out to his whole family.
Thanks for your comment.
Comment by Linh
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Maybe lifestyle and environmental effects have had an impact and Jett never really got better.
My deepest condolences to John Travolta and Kelly Preston and their family.
Cheers!
Comment by Cheryl J
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Regardless, if he had a history of seizures let's all hope he was receiving appropriate anti-seizure medication and this was truly a horrible accident. I would hate to think anyone suffering seizures was left to cope with them without medication. Seizures are dreadful for anyone to deal with.
I'm sure everyone feels the deepest sympathies for the entire family.
Comment by Anonymous
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Now we just need to convert the people of Israeli military and the wall street bankers to Church of Scientology
Comment by Jason King
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Anonymous - you're an ass!
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SISTERS IN CRIME
Comment by Damo
However since you beat me to the punch I just make a few quick comments.
There was concern over Travolta's son for several years because his medical condition was being ignored in favour of the wacky Scientology anti medication policy.
Until the autopsy can confirm what happened it would be difficult to speculate as to who is to blame.
Regardless of what happened here Scientology is a repressive cult.
Comment by Cheryl J
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Jason, we probably will never know the truth. Scientology protects it's own with a vengeance.
Paul, I couldn't agree more. Anonymous is a coward.
Teresa, you're right. Medicating children is walking a difficult path. Parents have to decide whether the benefits outweigh the side effects but there are some illnesses where it is a necessary evil. It is a very sad story and I think all our hearts go out to them at this terrible time.
Damo, I have read a number of times in the past about Jett being denied medical attention in favour of Scientology cleansing and auditing. What a sad state of affairs.
I look forward to your post after the autopsy. You always write very interesting pieces on Scientology and I think it's something you should still definitely write.
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one does hope it was not due to interference by their religious group, keeping necesary medication from him.
the autopsy report may shed some light on that.
I love John Travolta, you can see he is a good soul, but maybe, not seeing clearly regarding all things in his life.
God bless you Jett...
fog
Comment by Cheryl J
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I'm a fan of John Travolta too. He does seem like he is a good person. Nobody deserves this kind of suffering, unfortunately it happens many times every day in far worse circumstances. My heart goes out to each and every parent that suffers this kind of loss. May Jett be in peace now.
Comment by Mike Crowl
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Comment by 0.o
"I hope his and Preston's beliefs have contributed to their son's death."
I also do not understand what Israel has to do with this...they were attacked and have every right to defend themselves!
I think L. Ron Hubbard has made his point! If a science fiction writer can start a "religion" anyone can! It's more the supposed NON-believers that give it it's power!
To reject chemicals and the side effects that come with them in favor of a clean natural lifestyle IMHO is the right way! But then I do not buy into the propaganda from the drug companies.
Bunch of sheep here... cyas!
Comment by Tracy
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Comment by Cheryl J
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Hi Natalie, it was also the first thought that popped into my head. Unfortunately the reason that it did is because we hear of so many unnecessary deaths caused by this cult's ridiculous rules regarding medication. thank you for the informative link. It is one of far too many that I have read about it. The worst thing was, the poor boy was autistic but Scientology doesn't "recognise" autism.
Mike, you are of course right, until all of the facts are known it is all pure speculation. I was in no way disrespecting his family or belittling their grief. I am simply question the possibility that Scientology's restrictions on medical treatment MAY have had a causal relationship to how the poor boy died. As I have said in earlier comments, I'm sure everyone is feeling for the family at this time.
O.o, I think you misunderstood. Janet made a typo, she meant she hope it wasn't a cause, trust me she would never say anything like that. None of us understood Anonymous's message except that it was out of context and unbelievably cruel. A clean and natural lifestyle is the ideal in a perfect world but it is far from perfect. There are many medications which help quality of life and actually help save lives. But yes, there are many that are harmful.
Tracy, it's truly tragic.
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Comment by Cheryl J
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Hi Johnny, I don't get the blood transfusion thing either but I have a few friends that don't believe in organ donation either because of religious beliefs. It just seems a litttle crazy not to do what you can to save or improve someone's life.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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if he died as a direct result of an unmedicated seizure you may want to frown on their choice, but a slip in a bath could happen to anyone anywhere for any reason
when i heard of this incident i immediately thought of Eric Claptons son falling from his apartment window, it could happen to anyone, its just more publicised when its a celebrity
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Comment by Cheryl J
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The Travolta's have also made a statement that Jett had been taking Depakote but they felt it was no longer working and damaging his liver so they stopped it. I assume this would have been in consultation with a doctor. It does seem odd that they didn't try a different medication if he was having up to four seizures a week but at 16 maybe it was a decision Jett made for himself.
This is a terrible tragedy and it's is sad any way you look at it. I just hope it wasn't contributed to in any way because of restrictions placed on the family due to Scientology. I would say the same about any religion dictating to their followers what medical care they can or cannot receive.
Anonymous, nobody is forgetting about the grieving family. By all accounts they did everything possible to revive him and their loss is unimaginable. The reason that rumours are flying is solely due to the reputation Scientology has for causing harm.
Comment by Anonymous
ummm yeah well what about catholicism you dickhead!!
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Comment by Damo
Can I take it that you are either ignorant of Scientology or you are a member?
You could do you homework but then again why bother when trolling is much more fun.
I could be nice but when you start calling people dickheads it is hardly an invitation for pleasantries.
Comment by Cheryl J
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Anon, any harm done by the Catholic church is a moot point as we were discussing the withholding of medication which is not advocated by the Catholic church. I'm not a fan of the Catholic church either for different reasons but that discussion doesn't belong here.
If you want to make a point, sign in and make a point. Don't hide behind the anon tag and call people names.
Anon 2, I think that may be right. There have been rumours abounding since Jett was a child that he was autistic which in some cases may cause seizures, Kawasaki Syndrome does not. Although I don't think Austism is actually a psychiatric disorder. Regardless the family state categorically that he was not autistic and that his ongoing problems were caused by the latter. Expert doctors have said that this is not a symptom of Kawasaki Syndrome which causes heart and vascular problems. That said, he may have been epileptic and the family chose not to tell their business to the world which is their right.
Comment by alt_ed
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And Dimo! GROW UP!
Comment by Cheryl J
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I highly doubt anyone other than the immediate family, the coroner and the attending paramedics will ever know.
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