Travolta Tragedy Hits Home
January 2009
Travolta Tragedy Hits Home by Richard Siravo
When the news flashed that John Travolta’s 16-year-old son, Jett, died from an apparent seizure on January 2, I remained paralyzed momentarily as thoughts raced through my mind. It was five-years ago that I lost my five year old son, Matthew Siravo, to status epilepticus or a prolonged seizure. I couldn’t believe that lightning had struck the Travolta family as it did for us. The loss of a child is the most horrific experience a family can face. It’s a shocking tragedy that never goes away despite the outpouring of love and support from friends and family.
While millions of people worldwide suffer from seizure disorders or “epilepsy”, many are controlled by medication and live a fairly normal life. However, there are those individuals who do not respond well with repeated attempts to control seizures with various types of medications and their uncontrolled seizure activity may cause learning difficulties or special needs for growing children and in some cases the possibility of death.
The fact is that epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders and yet epilepsy research remains grossly underfunded. After the loss of my son Matthew, we organized the Matthew Siravo Memorial Foundation in Rhode Island to raise much needed funds for epilepsy research, epilepsy awareness & educational programs while offering children with epilepsy college scholarships and younger children epilepsy camp sponsorships. We have collaborated with doctors at Hasbro Childrens Hospital in Providence to improve the quality of life for children and families dealing with epilepsy on a daily basis. We have partnered with scientist at Brown University to enhance research efforts for this debilitating disease. We have held workshops with teachers and school nurses concerning the protocols following a seizure in the school setting. We have lectured at hospitals and attended numerous conferences to further educate society about epilepsy awareness.
Having a child with epilepsy is the fear of the unknown. The telephone rings and you fear that the message is about your child. You spend most nights awake listening to your child’s breathing patterns or sudden movements. A parent never knows where or when a seizure may occur. A parent never knows how long a seizure will last or whether there will be any long term side effects.
The Travolta’s have suffered the most horrific tragedy a family can face. They need love and support. In time, hopefully they will turn this tragedy into something positive for the many families suffering from epilepsy on a daily basis. In time, hopefully they will help educate society to better understand about seizures and use their celebrity influence to raise the much needed funds for epilepsy research to find a cure. But for now, they need their privacy to mourn the death of their only son and cuddle his memories as a family.
Richard Siravo is the Executive Director of the Matthew Siravo Memorial Foundation and Epilepsy Resource Center of RI located in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
For more information, please visit www.MattyFund.org or email Richard at rsiravo@cox.net
