FRIEND: TRAVOLTA CRIED ALL NIGHT
Jan. 3 2009, Published 2:40 p.m. ET
Superstar John Travolta, reeling from the devastating death of his 16-year-old son Jett yesterday, cried all night, his friend and lawyer Michael McDermott just told RadarOnline.com in an emotional exclusive interview.
McDermott was vacationing with John on Grand Bahama and told RadarOnline.com how John and wife Kelly were faring 24 hours after they lost their son. "I'm all choked up," McDermott said Saturday afternoon. "John was red-eyed from crying all night and he said to me 10 minutes ago: 'Be strong!'
"Then John said: 'We're going to get through this.'
"Can you imagine the courage and strength of the man?"
McDermott said he and Travolta friends are mad at local police for saying Jett went into the bathroom Thursday night and lay there till he was found Friday morning 10 a.m.
"John and Kelly had everything possible set up for an emergency in Jett's life," McDermott told RadarOnline.com. "The nanny, Jeff Kathrein, slept 8 feet away from Jett in his room. There was a baby monitor right next to him in his bed. And a chimer attached to the bathroom door announced when Jett was going in there.
"Short of holding his hand 24/7 they had everything in place. They loved that child with all their hearts. All this set-up was because he was prone to seizures which could occur at any time.
"Jeff got to him within minutes of his fall we believe.
"We don't know yet whether Jett banged his head on the toilet seat or the bathtub. But there was blood on the floor. We know he slipped and fell,. He could have had a seizure. He could have had an embolism."
McDermott said Jett was supervised by two nannies. At the time John and Kelly were sleeping upstairs in the condo. "No one was negligent here. The inference that they were out enjoying themselves is just horrible. They came running when Jeff yelled out."
McDermott, tearing up, told RadarOnline.com: "John did everything to save his boy's life with CPR -- everything he could to revive that child. He was unsuccessful.
"To have his son die in his arms like that, for me, is unimaginable. I'm a parent. He's so broken up. He's not going to get over this for a long time. If ever."
McDermott said it wasn't until hours later on Friday afternoon that John and Kelly sat down with Jett's sister, Ella Bleu, in their hotel condo and broke the news that her elder brother had died.
"I can't imagine how that went. It was the most painful thing they've ever had to do in their lives," said McDermott, who is the actor's corporate attorney based in Tampa, Florida, and had spent New Year's with the Travoltas on the island.