John Travolta’s family life has been tainted by tragedy in recent years.
His eldest son, Jett died on a family holiday aged 16 and Travolta later became involved in a $25m extortion case surrounding the death.
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Who was Jett Travolta?
Jett Travolta was the eldest son of John Travolta and Kelly Preston, who died at the age of 16 in 2009.
Born in 1992, Jett had a history of seizures from the age of two.
He had also been hospitalised at 15 months old with Kawasaki disease and was on the autism spectrum.
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How did Jett Travolta die?
In January 2009, Jett died while on a holiday in the Bahamas with his parents and younger sister.
He suffered a seizure after hitting his head on a bathtub.
Parents Travolta and Kelly had been celebrating New Year at the luxurious Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island.
Jett is said to have been found unconscious by a maid who then raised the alarm.
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Father John Travolta was initially suspected of wrongdoing in the treatment of his son.
The actor alleged he’d been blackmailed by Tarino Lightbourne, the ambulance driver who was called to attend to his son, and his lawyer Pleasant Bridgewater.
In a $25m extortion case, Lightbourne and Tarino were accused of demanding money from Travolta and threatening to release evidence to the media of Travolta’s supposed wrongdoing.
However the trial ended in mistrial after a blunder by a Barbadian politician, which suggested the result of the trial before it was actually reached.
11 years after Jett’s death, the Grease star shared a moving photo to celebrate what would have been his son’s 28th birthday.
In 2009, they set up the Jett Travolta Foundation, a charity that, in part, funds assistance and support for children with special needs.
