The Tragic Death Of Nick Cannon's 5-Month Old Baby

Transcript

00:00It's not very often that Nick Cannon gets serious on The Nick Cannon Show. However,

00:05the television personality had a somber announcement when he revealed a painful

00:09family loss. Cannon told his viewers that his 5-month-old son, Zen, who he shared with model

00:15Alyssa Scott, had died of a form of brain cancer called hydrocephalus. Cannon said,

00:20"'I always noticed he had, like, a sinus thing, a cough, and so I wanted to check it out. He

00:26always had this real interesting breathing. And then, by the time he was two months old,

00:30I noticed, he got a nice-sized head. I called it a Cannon head. We didn't think anything about it.

00:36But I really wanted to take him to the doctor to get the breathing and the sinuses checked out.

00:41We thought it would be a routine process."

00:44And while a lot of people are surprised that Cannon returned to work so soon after the death of his

00:48son, he says there's a good reason for it. Nick Cannon told his audience on The Nick Cannon Show

00:54that he held his son for the last time the weekend before he flew back to New York City to tape his

00:59show. However, Cannon said that he knew that his time was limited with Zen around Thanksgiving

01:04weekend, explaining that,

01:06"'You don't just go through it. You grow through it.'"

01:08Cannon said that he went back to work because he felt that he needed to honor and celebrate Zen's

01:13life with a special episode.

01:15"'This weekend I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen.

01:20We woke up on Sunday, and I was like, I feel like I want to go to the water,

01:25close to the ocean. By the time I got in the car and was heading to the airport,

01:29I had to turn around. Not only did we get to see the sunrise, but we got to see the sunset, too.'"

01:35"'I pray for the miracle of God's strength, and that's why I'm here with you guys today.'"

01:40Zen was Cannon's fourth child born in the past 18 months. His twins, Zilean and Zion,

01:45were born in June, and he welcomed his daughter Powerful in December.

01:49Nick Cannon has always been very open with his fans about how much he loves his children.

01:53During an August appearance on The Breakfast Club radio show, Cannon said,

01:57"'The beauty of fatherhood? When you really talk about living as a father,

02:01I've learned so much just from my children. And it's so amazing. I really just love being around

02:06my kids. That youthful energy? It feels like you get to relive every time.'"

02:12Nick Cannon is doing as best as he can during this tough time, and it appears he's leaning on rumored

02:17partner Alyssa Scott for added support. Cannon said on his show,

02:21"'Alyssa was just the strongest woman I've ever seen.'"

02:25Cannon continued,

02:26"'We never had an argument. She was emotional when she needed to be, but always was the best mom,

02:32and continues to be the best mom.'"

02:34Cannon also reflected on his late child's personality during the episode, saying,

02:38"'He was the most loving. We called him Zee-chilling. He was always smiling. He had the most beautiful

02:45spirit.'" Our thoughts and prayers go to Cannon and Scott during this very difficult time.