John Travolta and Kelly Preston have left the Bahamas and returned to the U.S. along with the cremated remains of their 16-year-old son, Jett.
The couple, along with 8-year-old daughter Ella Bleu, left the islands Monday night after the autopsy was complete and returned with their son’s ashes to their home in Ocala, Fla.
Travolta family friend and Bahamas official Obie Wilchcombe told CNN that a memorial service for Jett is being planned for Thursday, and the town is already preparing to help the Travoltas with whatever special arrangements they may need for the occasion.
Jett was diagnosed at the age of two with Kawasaki Syndrome, a rare disease that inflames the blood vessels and can affect organs including the heart, causing him to have regular seizures. With adequate treatment, the mortality rate is less than 0.01 per cent. His parents had taken him off drug treatment after several years in consultation with neuro-surgeons, Travolta’s lawyers stated.
An unconfirmed report on TMZ.com claimed yesterday that Jett still had a faint pulse when he was discovered lying in the toilet area of the bathroom, with the door closed. There was “a considerable amount of blood after the resuscitation efforts,” it claimed.
Travolta and Preston, both devout followers of the Church of Scientology, are planning to hold a memorial service later this week, believing that he has not died but simply moved on to a new life.
Scientologists have no set rules or customs regarding how a person’s remains should be disposed of as it attaches little meaning to the physical form, believing that the body is simply a vehicle for one’s spiritual self - or “thetan” - which they consider immortal.
As a result they do not conduct funerals, only memorial services to fete the departed, acknowledge their accomplishments and wish them well in their future existence.
During the service, the minister emphasises that the person’s spiritual being has simply moved on into a new life and thanks them for the time they have spent with their loved ones. Bodies may be either cremated or interred.
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