5 month old son of pro-life actor Nick Cannon passes away from brain tumour

Pro-life actor Nick Cannon announced on his show last week that his youngest son, Zen, has passed away after battling a brain tumour.

According to the Daily Mail, in an emotional episode of The Nick Cannon Show, aired on 7th December, Cannon detailed his son, Zen Scott Cannon's life.

At around two months old, Cannon and baby Zen's mother, model Alyssa Scott, noticed that baby Zen's head had grown large, but believed it to be a sinus issue.

“I always noticed he had a cough and so I wanted to check it out. He had this interesting breathing and by the time he was two months, he had this nice sized head too – a Cannon head,” he said. “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”.

Baby Zen was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, where cavities of the brain build up with fluids, increasing the size of ventricles and putting pressure on the brain. Immediately baby Zen had to have brain surgery, where a shunt was put in place to drain the fluid. However, at Thanksgiving, baby Zen's condition got worse.

'This weekend, I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time with Zen,' Cannon told his audience.

'We woke up on Sunday and went to the ocean with him and Alyssa, and then I had to fly back to New York for the show.” he said. “I got a call on my way to the airport to head back to Zen.'

Cannon recalls spending the last time holding his son, who sadly passed away that evening on 5th December.

'You can't heal until you feel,' he said on his show. 'I prayed for God's strength, and that's why I'm here today, because I know he puts the most and heaviest weight on the shoulders of his strongest shoulders'. He dedicated the episode to his son, dubbing it a “celebration of life” for Zen.

Cannon is known by the pro-life community for his song “Can I Live?” detailing the true story of his mother who became pregnant at seventeen, and decided to not go through with the abortion she had planned. Through the song, Cannon expresses a message of appreciating life, whilst also thanking his mother for the life she gave him.