Nick Cannon broke down Tuesday as he announced his 5-month-old son, Zen, had died after being diagnosed with brain cancer.
“I always noticed he had a cough and so I wanted to check it out,” the 41-year-old rapper shared during “The Nick Cannon Show” in a clip posted on YouTube. The video was noted by Entertainment Tonight.
“He had this interesting breathing and by the time he was two months I noticed he had this nice sized head too — a Cannon head,” he added. “We didn’t think anything of it. But I wanted to take him to the doctor for his sinus and breathing. We thought it would be routine.”
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The trip to the doctor revealed that Zen had fluid building in his head, and it was a malignant tumor. He “immediately” went in for surgery and had a shunt put in his head to drain the fluid. However, come Thanksgiving, things took a “turn” and sped up. (RELATED: Nick Cannon Welcomes Son Into The World)
“Ultimately, it was cancer in the brain and the tumor began to grow a lot faster. And so we knew that time was…,” Cannon explained as his speech got more staggered and he was clearly starting to break down.
“So, this weekend I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen,” he added. “We woke up on Sunday — I got to spend the weekend with him — and I woke up on Sunday and was like, ‘I feel like I want to go to the water.’ We got a chance to go to the ocean.” (RELATED: Nick Cannon Sits Down With Rabbi Following Anti-Semitic Rant)
The TV host talked about getting to hold his son “for the last time” over the weekend. He also talked about how he got to see the sunrise and set with his infant son.
“I didn’t know how I was going to handle today, but I just wanted to grieve with my family,” Nick told viewers, adding that it was a “special show dedicated to” his “beautiful son, Zen.”