Parents Of Late Disney Star Cameron Boyce Want People To Know How He Died

The parents of late Disney star Cameron Boyce have explained why they want people to know how he died.

The 20-year-old actor, known for his roles in the Disney Channel franchise Descendants and TV show Jessie, died after being found unconscious at his home in North Hollywood on 6 July 2019.

His family said at the time that he had suffered a seizure as a result of 'an ongoing medical condition', before confirming days later that he had epilepsy.

Parents Libby and Victor were unaware that the condition could cause fatal seizures, known as Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP).

Now they've made it their mission to spread awareness about epilepsy, launching The Cameron Boyce Foundation in a bid to get people talking about the condition and raising funds for research.

Libby told The Independent: "It is the number one neurological disease and we don't talk about it.

"People, for some reason, don't feel free to discuss their diagnosis. There's just not enough awareness and there's not enough education for those people who are newly diagnosed.

"One in 26 people have epilepsy. Everybody knows somebody who has epilepsy, yet we never talked about it."

Cameron's parents are clear on why this is - and they want to do something about it.

Victor said: "It's stigmatised. It's similar to gay people being closeted. It's similar to people with mental health issues, [and people] try to hide it because you get stigmatised and you get marginalised.

"One of the things we're going to do is to destigmatise it, to bring it into the mainstream, to get it out from under the carpet, and shine a light on it.

"Let's talk about it, because people with epilepsy need information. They need to to know what to do if they have a seizure.

"We're trying to arm people with information and put them in touch with the right kind of health care providers, and the right kind of hospitals."

Libby added: "We want to invite the epilepsy community and beyond to get involved.

"Obviously, the people that watch us the most are Cameron's fan base, so we really want to go beyond that, and be a support for the epilepsy community."

You can visit the foundation's website and find out more here.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, Health

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey