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

It's not very often that Nick Cannon gets serious on the "Nick Cannon Show," seeing how it's the kind of talk show designed to bring out the laughs. However, the television personality had a somber announcement when he revealed a painful family loss. Cannon told his viewers that his 5-month-old son Zen, who he shared with model Alyssa Scott, had died of a form of brain cancer called Hydrocephalus, according to ET. 

"I always noticed, he had like... a sinus thing, a cough and so I wanted to check it out," Cannon shared. "He always had this real interesting breathing and then, by the time he was two months old, I noticed... he got nice sized head — I called it a Cannon head," he continued. "We didn't think anything about it... But I really wanted to take him to the doctor to get the breathing and the sinuses checked out. We thought it would be a routine process."

And although some are surprised Cannon returned to work so soon after the death of his son, he says this is his reasoning behind it.

Nick Cannon told his audience on the "Nick Cannon Show," that he held his son for the last time the weekend before he flew back to New York City to tape his show. However, the father-of-seven said that he and Zen's mother Alyssa Scott knew that their time was limited with Zen around Thanksgiving weekend. 

Explaining that "you don't just go through it, you grow through it," Cannon said that he went back to work because he felt that he needed to honor and celebrate Zen's life with a special episode. "This weekend I made a valid effort to spend the most quality time I could spend with Zen... We woke up on Sunday, and I was like 'I feel like I wanna go to the water, close to the ocean...'" Cannon said while breaking down in tears. "Holding my son for the last time... but it was a beautiful setting... By the time I got in the car and was heading to the airport, I had to turn around... not only did we get to see the sunrise, but we got to see the sunset too." Cannon continued, "I prayed for the miracle of God's strength, and that's why I'm here with you today." 

Zen was Cannon's fourth child born in the past 18 months, according to TMZ. His twins Zillion and Zion were born in June and he welcomed his daughter Powerful in December. 

Nick Cannon gushed about his seven children during an August appearance on The Breakfast Club radio show, saying, "The beauty of fatherhood, when you really talk about living as a father, I've learned so much just from my children, and it's so amazing." He added, I really just love being around my kids. That youthful energy, it feels like you get to relive every time."

He also pushed back on the criticism about him having children with multiple partners, not that it's anyone's business. "I don't have ownership of any of the mothers," he said in reference to the tradition and history of marriage. "We create families in the sense of we created a beautiful entity."

Cannon proved the strength of these family ties in his message about Alyssa Scott, Zen's mother. He shared the heartfelt words in the announcement about the baby's death and it's clear these two will be close no matter what happens next. 

Nick Cannon is doing as best as he can during this tough time, and it appears he's leaning on rumored partner Alyssa Scott for added support. "[She's] the strongest woman I've ever seen," Cannon said on his namesake talk show on December 7. "We never had an argument. She was emotional when she needed to be but always was the best mom and continues to be the best mom."

Cannon also reflected on his late child's personality during the episode, saying, "He was the most loving. We called him Z Chilling. He was always smiling. He had the most beautiful spirit." Weeks prior to Zen's tragic death, Nick Cannon spoke to Dr. Mehmet Oz about the chances of him becoming a dad again. The comedian said, per Us Weekly, "That's a difficult question to ask unless I did have something like a vasectomy. Because I don't know if I'm going to find love again... You never understand what the universe is going to present to you." 

Of course, our thoughts are with Cannon and Scott during this very difficult time