An interview from over a decade ago has surfaced in which Cindy Crawford, 60, revealed her fear of “losing a child.”
Crawford’s son, Presley Gerber, died Sunday of an overdose at age 27 at a halfway house in Santa Monica, California. The model had struggled with addiction and mental illness, often speaking publicly about his battles in order to help others.
In the interview, which The Mirror published in 2010 and updated in 2012, Crawford discussed her childhood in Illinois. Her younger brother, Jeffrey, died from Leukemia when he was about four, and Crawford was eight. She reflected on her mother Jennifer’s handling of his death.
“Growing up, I sometimes felt she should have been angry or outraged, and she wasn’t,” Crawford said. “She had a son that died. My dad had an affair, and they divorced. Those were painful things for her, but they didn’t take away from her light as a person.”
“Now I’m a mom myself; I’ve really come to appreciate her outlook on life,” Crawford, whose children would have been around nine and 11 at the time, continued. “I can’t imagine the pain of losing a child. He was four when he died. He was sick for two years.”
Crawford also said in the interview that Presley Gerber took after his father, Rande, while her daughter, Kaia, took after her.
“My son is more like Rande and my daughter’s definitely more me. She likes school, and she cares,” she said. “My son is more like my husband. School is something to be tolerated for the PE, break time, and his friends.”
Kaia, 25, spoke about her brother’s addiction in an interview with Vogue. She said he’d become an “absolute teacher” who opened up in an effort to “be very human for everyone.”
“There’s only so much you can hide from the world,” she continued. “And trying to put a lid on something just makes the person feel like you’re ashamed of them.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, please contact the SAMHSA helpline at 1-800-662-HELP.
