John Travolta says son Jett's death was worst thing to ever happen, Scientology helped him cope

[Rapunzel]

http://wonderwall.msn.com/movies/john-travolta-says-son-jetts-death-was-worst-thing-to-ever-happen-scientology-helped-him-cope-1797943.story?ocid=answw11

John Travolta says son Jett's death was worst thing to ever happen, Scientology helped him cope

Wonderwall, Tuesday, February 18, 2014, 10:04am (PST)

    Us Weekly

    As John Travolta celebrates his 60th birthday on Feb. 18, the actor is sorely missing his late son, Jett. During a recent on-stage interview at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London (published by the BBC on Feb. 17), Travolta called his son's death "the worst thing that's ever happened in my life."

    "The truth is, I didn't know if I was going to make it," the "Savages" actor shared. "Life was no longer interesting to me, so it took a lot to get me better."

    Travolta and wife Kelly Preston's eldest son, Jett, died suddenly at the age of 16 in January 2009 from a seizure while on a family vacation in the Bahamas. Jett had a history of seizures and was autistic. Travolta and Preston, 51, are also parents to daughter Ella, 13, and son Benjamin, 3.

    After Jett's death, Travolta said he "didn't want to wake up," but credits his religious faith and fellow members in the Church of Scientology with helping him cope. "I will forever be grateful to Scientology for supporting me for two years solid, I mean Monday through Sunday," Travolta explained during the talk. "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."

    In addition to having the support of Scientology, which he has practiced since 1975, Travolta told "Good Morning America" last June that late actor James Gandolfini was also by his side during that difficult time. "James went out of his way to come to Florida and he would not leave Florida until I was okay, or he felt that I would be fine," Travolta said of his "Get Shorty" and "Lonely Hearts" co-star.

    Gandolfini died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 51 in June 2013. Travolta told "GMA" he is going to make sure his friend's family -- wife Deborah Lin, son Michael and baby daughter Liliana -- are taken care of in the future. "My goal is to make sure that his family is okay," he said. "His little boy, I watched him grow up, and his brand new little girl. We'll just make sure they're taken care of. That's the whole idea."

[mountaineer]

Wasn't Scientology - and its refusal to acknowledge Jett's disorder -  the reason he didn't get the treatment he needed?

... The discrepancies in the accounts raise questions about what possible motive the family would have for obscuring any details of Jett’s death.

Of course, the Travoltas have always fiercely guarded their privacy, both because of their devotion to Scientology and because of the long-term health problems of Jett, who they have long maintained was damaged by Kawasaki Syndrome, a rare circulatory problem that is seldom fatal and affects only infants.

They have repeatedly rejected the observations from a variety of experts who believe Jett suffered from autism. His clumsiness, inability to speak and tendency to walk on tip-toe are said to be classic symptoms of autism - which is also often associated with epileptic seizures.

The day after Jett died, another lawyer travelling with the Travoltas admitted that Jett suffered seizures as regularly as every four days. But he insisted that the Travoltas had not ignored the problem and Jett had been treated in the past with an anti-seizure medication, Depakote.

He said medication had been stopped several years ago because it had ‘ceased to work’ and Kelly feared it might be damaging Jett’s liver. ...

Daily Mail

More from Gawker:

... Jett's parents, Travolta and Kelly Preston, are both "clear" — an exalted, expensively attained status in Scientology. Critics of Scientology have long known that the pseudo-religion, based on Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, discourages adherents from seeking medical help for problems they deem "psychosomatic." That old line about it being all in your head forms the basis of Scientology's weird belief system; most problems, even if they manifest themselves physically, are spiritual in nature, stemming from the patient's "reactive mind." Even aspirin is deemed a mood-altering drug to be avoided — too bad if you take it to prevent blood clots. ...