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Nick Cannon feels 'shattered' over death of infant son: 'I wish I could have done more'

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 12/15/21

Nick Cannon suffered an unimaginable loss when his and Alyssa Scott's five-month-old son, Zen, died from a brain tumor on Dec. 5.

"My heart is shattered," Cannon shared for this week's cover of People. "I wish I could have done more, spent more time with him, taken more pictures. I wish I could have hugged him longer."

Cannon, 41, tearfully first revealed Zen's death during the Dec. 7 episode of his eponymous daytime talk show.

Cannon explained in the segment that Zen had a malignant tumor in his brain and underwent surgery to place a shunt to drain fluid, but People further detailed the specific condition as a high-grade glioma. The diagnosis came in August.

"We started asking, 'Is there a way to prevent this? If not, how long do we have?'" Cannon told the outlet. "The conversations quickly turned to, 'How can we give him the best life for the time that he does have?' It could be weeks, it could be months, it could be years."

Around Thanksgiving, as Cannon said on his show, Zen's condition took a turn. Ultimately, Cannon and Scott spent Zen's final day holding him at the beach.

Last week, Cannon shared that he got a tattoo of Zen as an angel on his ribs.