English Opinion

Much has been made of the death of Jett Travolta in the media in recent days. Some of the coverage expressed the sorrow we all feel over the teenager’s death but the rest of the journalists seem to think that it marked open season on John Travolta, Kelly Preston and Scientology. Thank goodness those journalists are in the minority because it reflects badly on the society we live in. They seem to relish the grief, sorrow and tragedy of others, but they have also got their “facts” incredibly wrong.

It has emerged that Jett either slipped or began to have a seizure in the bathroom and this caused him to hit his head on the sink or bath. Unfortunately, he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Although one of his nannies and John Travolta were quick on the scene, the 20 minutes of CPR administered by John could not save him. There are reports that Travolta had to be forcibly removed from his son when giving CPR because he was unwilling to let him go The boy also had a faint pulse at that point and died later in hospital. I can well believe that because it was well documented how both Travolta and Preston loved their son and any other parent that has ever loved their child can completely understand. We’re never willing to give up on the people we love. As for some of the rest of the press reports though, I don’t believe a word of them.

It has been reported that Jett was left on his own for long periods of time, that he was not allowed medication because it went against Travolta’s Scientology beliefs and that Travolta and Preston were busy partying when their son died. As they were at the family home and it was 10am when Jett collapsed, I doubt the latter is true. Jett had 2 nannies, one of which always slept in a room no more than 10 feet away with a baby monitor as a result of the teenager’s illness and seizures so the first is not true either. The fact that someone was trying to revive Jett within minutes speaks volumes about that. He averaged a seizure every 4 days during the worst period of his illness so his parents had literally covered all possibilities to ensure that theycould prevent serious injury as far as possible. However, if death wants someone then he will have him no matter what. Unfortunately, it was Jett’s time to go.

In terms of the Scientology rumours, John Travolta is a Scientologist but he never enforced his beliefs on those around him Jett had been on a medication commonly known as Depakote. It was supposed to help sufferers control seizures but actually made Jett worse after taking it for a few years becaus it had begun to damage his organs, most prominantly his liver. Scientology had nothing to do with it so no matter what people think about the religion it cannot be blamed for Jett’s death. As usual though, people jump on the bandwagon.

The time has come to leave the family to mourn. John Travolta, Kelly Preston and their daughter, Ella Blue, are absolutely heartbroken and do not need lies and rumours floating around blaming them in any way. It was just a huge tragedy that claimed a 16 year old’s life and the family should be sent our condolances instead of the veil of suspicion a few seem to have cast over the whole thing. The autopsy is to be performed later today and that should put an end to the matter. I hope for Travolta’s sake that it does.

My thoughts are with the family and I sincerely hope that they can grieve in peace. They deserve so much more and only those that have lost close family can ever fully appreciate just how they feel.

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