John Travolta has been faced with many tragedies in his life. He recently announced his wife, Kelly Preston, had died after fighting cancer for two years. In his family life, John has dealt with a great deal of death in more ways than one.
How many children did John Travolta and Kelly Preston have?
John Travolta had three children with Kelly: Jett, Ella Bleu and Benjamin.
However, Jett died aged 16 in 2009, in a shocking incident which caused a great deal of pain for the family.
John and Kelly married in 1991 and Kelly gave birth to Jett in 1992.
However, while on holiday in the Bahamas, Jett died on January 2, 2009, aged 16.
The cause of death was attributed to a seizure, and John confirmed Jett had a regular history of seizures, having been diagnosed with Kawasaki disease when he was two years old.
Jett was also autistic, as John was forced to testify in 2009 after he sued two people for allegedly trying to blackmail him with private information following Jett’s death.
Speaking in the trial, John said: “I ran downstairs with my wife to help my son… He was autistic. He suffered from a seizure disorder.”
Since then, the Travolta family has experienced more heartbreak with the death of Kelly, which comes after a two-year battle with breast cancer.
John said in a statement on Instagram: “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my beautiful wife Kelly has lost her two-year battle with breast cancer.
“She fought a courageous fight with the love and support of so many. My family and I will forever be grateful to her doctors and nurses at MD Anderson Cancer Centre, all the medical centres that have helped, as well as her many friends and loved ones who have been by her side.
“Kelly’s love and life will always be remembered. I will be taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother, so forgive me in advance if you don’t hear from us for a while.
“But please know that I will feel your outpouring of love in the weeks and months ahead as we heal. All my love, JT.”
As a result of Kelly’s death, John will take a step back from public life.
This is not the first time John has had to endure heartbreak of this kind.
Diana Hyland, an early girlfriend of John’s whom he met while filming The Boy in the Plastic Bubble in 1976, died of breast cancer in 1977, at which time the couple were still together.