Kelly Preston and Jett Travolta
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Jett Travolta – who died in 2009 after suffering a seizure and hitting his head in a bathtub at the family’s vacation home at the Old Bahama Bay Hotel on Grand Bahama Island – suffered from autism, which Preston attributes to a series of contributing factors.
“[Jett] was autistic. He had seizures and when he was very young, he had Kawasaki Syndrome,” she says on the Nov. 21 episode of The Doctors (check local listings).
“I strongly believe as a mother, as does my husband, that there are certain contributing factors that lead to autism and some of it is very much the chemicals in our environment and in our food,” she adds.
Preston, 50, says she holds a number of things responsible for Jett’s autism, specifically Kawasaki Syndrome – which usually affects children from ages 2 to 5 and can cause inflammation of the arteries – her “fast and hard” labor and the use of antibiotics while breastfeeding, which gave Jett thrush, an infection of Candida yeast which some studies have linked to the symptoms of autism.
The episode also includes a behind-the-scenes look at Alternative Laboratories to show viewers how organic products are made. Preston hopes to empower parents with information about living an organic lifestyle and being surrounded by less chemicals.
Since Jett’s passing, Preston and husband John Travolta – who are also parents to Ella, 12 – have welcomed another child, Benjamin, who is now 2-years-old.
Kelly Preston and Dr. Travis Stork on The Doctors
Courtesy of CBS Television Distribution / Stage 29 Productions LLC
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Kelly Preston Opens Up About Her Late Son, Jett Travolta