Inside Buddy Valastro's Tragic Loss At The Age Of 17

Buddy Valastro has been a staple in the food TV world for years now, entertaining the globe with his eccentric family of outspoken sisters as they banded together to make New Jersey's Carlo's Bakery one of the biggest in the world. "Cake Boss" first debuted on TLC all the way back in 2009, and it's fair to say the Valastro family has seen its fair share of ups and downs since then.

Buddy in particular has been pretty open about personal life, including the horrific incident he suffered in September 2020 that almost saw him lose his hand after it became impaled during a seriously gruesome bowling accident. Buddy admitted that it "was the worst pain that [he'd] ever encountered in [his] life" while speaking to People that month. "I looked at my hand and blood was gushing everywhere. It looked like a Halloween movie," he shared.

Fortunately, Buddy is now on the road to recovery with his hand, but it wasn't the first time the star had suffered a major setback in his life. When the reality star was just 17 years old, he experienced something tragic that would go on to transform his life forever.

Buddy Valastro was just a teenager when he became the man of the house, stepping up to take care of his family. The star, who has four sisters, experienced the death of his beloved father, Bartolo Valastro Sr., in 1994, which would forever change the trajectory of his life. "Dad got lung cancer. It was my seventeenth birthday and I was standing by his hospital bedside with Mama when he told us the diagnosis. We were all in a state of shock. Beyond shock," Buddy told Guideposts in 2011. "Then Mama whispered, 'What are we going to do?'"

It was then that Buddy decided he would take on his Dad's dream of making Carlo's Bakery the best it could be. "I looked Dad in the eye. 'I'm gonna work full-time at the bakery,' I said. 'I'm going to make Carlo's a household name, like you always dreamed, I promise. I'm going to make you proud, Dad. Just get better,'" he recalled.

Bartolo died just three weeks later and Buddy decided to drop out of High School to spend all the time he could at the bakery. But, fortunately, he was prepared for all the hard work to come. "My dad had me work from the bottom up. It was important to him that I learn every aspect of the business from dishwashing to decorating," he told The National in 2014. "I started out helping him and learning from the way he did things."

Buddy Valastro has made no secret of how much he struggled after losing his dad, Bartolo Valastro Sr., speaking out on multiple occasions about the effect his death had on him. "No matter how hard I worked... I couldn't escape my grief," he recalled to Guideposts in 2011. "Almost every night I'd demand of God, How could you take away my father? How can you expect me to go on without him?"

He also recalled one very special night he had where he dreamt his late father was by his side after struggling to learn how to recreate his signature pastry, the Lobster Tail. Buddy remembered that his dad looked "vibrant and healthy" in the dream, sharing, in detail, how he came to him and show him how to make the dessert. "All of a sudden those two Buddys came together. My hands and my father's hands had become one and the same," Buddy shared.

Buddy has continued to mourn his dad in the years that have passed, sometimes sharing old photos of his beloved father on Instagram. In 2017, Buddy celebrated Father's Day with a series of old snaps, writing, "This is for the man who made me who I am today. You taught me everything I know and I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. I only wish you could see us all now! I love you, I miss you, and I'm always thinking of you."