Nick Cannon and Alyssa Scott’s five-month-old son, Zen Cannon, has died. The infant had been diagnosed with a brain tumor earlier this year, and things took a horrible turn around Thanksgiving, Nick revealed during the Dec. 7 episode of The Nick Cannon Show. Nick sobbed as he shared the news with his listeners, revealing that the brain tumor started to grow quickly at the end of November. Zen died on Dec. 5, and Nick was able to be with him on his final day.
This was the first time that the public had heard about Zen’s health issues. The five-month-old was one of Nick’s seven kids, who was born in the same month as twins, Zion and Zillion. The talk show host shares the twins with Abby De La Rosa. Nick also has twins Moroccan and Monroe with ex-wife, Mariah Carey, as well as a son, Golden, 4, and daughter, Powerful, 1, with Brittany Bell.
“I’d always noticed he had a cough, so I decided to investigate,” Nick explained on his show Dec. 7. “He had this peculiar breathing pattern, and by the time he was two-months old, I noticed he had a Cannonlike head.” Nick and Alyssa took Zen to the doctor, expecting his issues to be “ordinary.” However, they found out that he had fluid building in his head and a malignant tumor. Zen underwent surgery to remove the tumor when he was just several weeks old.
Nick appeared on The Nick Cannon Show on Dec. 6, but did not hint that anything was wrong in his personal life. It wasn’t until the following day that he shared the tragedy that his family was dealing with. Alyssa had not posted on her Instagram feed in over a month, but her last photo featured Zen in a Halloween costume. She also shared precious throwback videos of Zen on her Instagram Story on Dec. 6.
Nick explained his decision to return to work so shortly after losing his child, telling his viewers, “You can’t heal until you feel.” He also insisted that the episode would be a “celebration of life” for his young child whose life was cut far too short. “You don’t just go through it, you grow through it,” Nick added. “I have so much faith in the lord, I have so much faith in God. People often tell me to pray for miracles, and I did pray for the miracle — I prayed for the miracle of God’s strength and that’s why I’m here with you guys today.”
