Actor Travolta "heartbroken" over son's death

NASSAU (Reuters) - Actor John Travolta broke a two-day silence over the death of his 16-year-old son Jett on Sunday, saying he and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, were "heartbroken" by their sudden loss.

Jett, who had a history of seizures, was found unconscious in a bathroom at his family's home at the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island on Friday morning.

He was pronounced dead after being taken by ambulance to Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport and an autopsy to determine the cause of death is due to be performed in the Bahamas on Monday.

"Jett was the most wonderful son that two parents could ever ask for and lit up the lives of everyone he encountered," Travolta said in a statement posted on his website www.travolta.com.

"We are heartbroken that our time with him was so brief. We will cherish the time that we had with him for the rest of our lives."

The statement did not refer to Jett's medical history or possible cause of death. But Travolta's lawyers, Michael Ossi and Michael McDermott, were quoted on Sunday as saying Jett apparently suffered from grand mal, a type of epilepsy marked by convulsions and loss of consciousness.

He was on an anti-seizure medication called Depakote for several years, Ossi and McDermott told the celebrity website TMZ.

They said the drug was suspended after it lost its effectiveness amid concern about side effects, however, and Jett had been suffering about one extremely serious seizure a week.

Travolta and his wife have said previously that Jett became very sick when he was a toddler and was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease, which leads to inflammation of the blood vessels in young children.

Ossi and McDermott did not immediately return calls from Reuters on Sunday seeking comment. Travolta's publicists have declined to comment on autopsy or funeral plans for the actor's teenage son.