Hunter Tylo speaks out about son’s death
Soap star Hunter Tylo, 45, tragically lost her 19-year-old son Michael last month after he suffered a seizure at their Nevada home, falling into the swimming pool unconscious and drowning. On Larry King Live last evening, Hunter spoke about experiencing her worst nightmare.
Click below for the interview.
At his 15th birthday, hebegan to have some symptoms where he would just walk and be blinkingand staring off into space, and slowly these turned into some seizures,where literally he would be tremoring and fall into the ground. It was called complex partial seizures. And I didn’t find outuntil much later what it was exactly. But he had been seeing atherapist, who originally was seeing my daughter Katya for some of her medical issues and the trauma that she had beenthrough [with her eye cancer].
And then this therapist told my son that he didn’treally have seizures, per se. That this was some kind of stressdisorder. That if she treated him weekly and talked to him, that thiswould stop these seizures. And they didn’t stop. And this went on for18 months.
Wewere living [in Nevada] and I would commute to come into the "The Boldand the Beautiful" or I would do films. Actually, this last fivemonths, he was with me here in L.A., because I was seeking propermedical treatment. He had driven out to see his girlfriend, and thenhe went to ourhome in Nevada, and he was trying to call his girlfriend that morning.They were going to meet up for breakfast.
So about I guess 6:15, 6:30 pm,he had called her and then she was going to call him back. And he neverpicked up again. He was standing out by the pool to get reception, andthen a seizure occurred and he fell into the water. There wasn’t — notoxicology. I mean, he did not doanything. He was actually trying to work on taking his medications andget better.
My oldest son, Chris, his older brother, called and told me that…It’s like what you never want to hear. He said, ‘Mom, are yousitting down?’ And, you know, you don’t want to hear that. I said, ‘Ohquiet, what do you want?’ He said, ‘Mom, I’m not kidding, are you sittingdown?’
And there’s just this hot rush of blood that just envelopes yourwhole face and your chest and you just begin to know that there’ssomething terribly wrong.
And he said, ‘It’s about Mike.’ AndI don’t know if it was just my body language or just what washappening, and even though I was trying to cover because my twodaughters were sitting at the table where this phone call came, mydaughter, who is 11 years old now, she immediately said, ‘Is Mike dead?’I looked at her and I walked further away from the table.
Thenext thing my son said is, ‘I found Mike in the pool. He’s dead.’ And itwas the worst thing I have ever heard in my life. I thought the worst thing in life was having a sick child and thenhaving a child that might be blind. But there’s really nothing morepainful than losing a child.
Source: Larry King Live
Thanks to CBB reader Mary Beth.
- Posted on Nov 14, 07 at 11:15AM
- Permalink
- 22 Comments
November 14th, 2007 at 11:27 am
God Bless her and her family… what a horrible thing to go through…
November 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am
oh,my god..i know how true that is: the worst thing that can happen is for your child/children to die. i feel for her & her family very much,and i am so sorry for their loss. may they all be reunited someday (thats what gives me hope,personally.)
November 14th, 2007 at 11:45 am
Oh my god so sad! I can’t imagine. my prayers go out to the family!
November 14th, 2007 at 12:02 pm
I so feel for her and her family. The pain must be unbelievable. I wish her and the family only the best. Celebrate his memory with the love and happiness you all shared together.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
That is such a tragic story that it had me crying. I hope they get through this and know that some day, they will see him again. May his soul rest in peace.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:27 pm
this is so sad…
is incredible how strong this woman is, because I saw the part of the interview where she talks about how her son died, and she look so calm answering the questions …i mean, I think if something like that happens to me, I will not be able to talk to anybody…specially after just a month. I think people reacts in different ways after tragedy, I remember watching the first interview to Terry Irwin after Steve passed away, and she couldn’t stop crying. I’m not saying Hunter should be crying in the interviews, is just amazing how strong she is, to be able to talk about her child in a so calm way.
God bless her and her family.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:31 pm
My heart was beating so fast just reading that. I can’t imagine having lived through it. Such a tragic story.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
I’m sick just reading this. Nobody should ever have to bury a child. I feel for Hunter so much and really hope that she’s able to get through this with the love from her family. I cannot even imagine the pain she must be going through. She will definitely be in my thoughts.
November 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
This is sad.
My prayers are with Hunter and herfamily.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:16 pm
This just gave me chills. So sad. My thoughts are with the family.
November 14th, 2007 at 1:38 pm
This story is so heartbreaking. I know that Hunter has a strong religious belief system and I hope that can get her & her family through this extremely difficult time.
November 14th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
That is so sad because I know how important her children are to her I am so sorry I was so shocked to hear about this tragic event my prayers and thoughts are with her and her entire family may god put his healing hands on this family especially with the holidays coming up peace be with you and your whole family.
November 14th, 2007 at 5:02 pm
I can not even imagine the unbearable pain that she and her ex-husband must be suffering through. My prayers are with her and her family.
November 14th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
I just got goosebumps from reading this. Oh what a tragic thing for her to have to go through. My thoughts continue to go out to them.
November 14th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Prayers go out to her and her family. I could not imagine going thru something like that.
November 15th, 2007 at 2:19 pm
I have been a fan of the Bold and the Beautiful since it began in the late 80s. I am so sorry for her loss and my heart goes out to her and her family.
November 15th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
As someone who has endured the same tragedy, I cannot begin to find the words to explain the grief, the anguish and the physical pain. For months, I felt as if I had a huge gaping hole in my chest. Even though I knew people meant well, I resented hearing who told me that “it’s for the best”, “it was meant to be”, etc. To this day, when I hear the word “closure” spoken to a grieving person, it sets my teeth on edge. There’s no such thing as closure. What I found to be true is that old chestnut “Life goes on.” Even though you hurt for a long time, there does come a moment when you hurt less. I still remember, and this was a year or more later, going to bed and realizing that this was the first day I didn’t cry. Even then I felt guilty. But we have no choice but to carry on. You have no option but to get up every day and live; it’s not up to you. But you are never a whole person again; you are the best person you can be who endured this tragedy and it changes you forever. You still strive to be happy but it’s forever a different kind of happiness. My prayers to Hunter and her family.
November 15th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
This story is rather tragic and my heart goes out to her and her family. However the whole passage about the therapist tells me that so said therapist will be served with a lawsuit very soon. I just wish she were not pointing fingers after all she really should have sought proper assessment from qualified professionals. It’s not a therapist’s job to diagnose some medical conditions and the therapist should have known also she was out of her depth!
November 15th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Such a tragic loss, i feel for them so deeply. This truly is one of the worst things that can happen to a person. My thoughts and prayers are with Hunter and her family during this. I hope she can give strength to other parents who have gone through the same thing. I hope they find the comfort and peace that God provides.
November 16th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
my prayers go out to her and her family… may GOD bless them…
November 16th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
My wife and I buried our 19 yr old son 2 1/2 yrs ago and it was the worst day of our lives. Something dies inside of you along with them,it’s impossible to explain! Our hearts go out to you, Hunter,and I hope your friends and family are there for you!
All the best, Steve
November 17th, 2007 at 2:10 am
Hearing this made me so sad, as a mother of two boys this is so heart breaking. God bless his family.