NeNe Leakes, former “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, shared on her Instagram stories on Monday that her son Brentt suffered from congestive heart failure and a stroke two weeks ago. Brentt Leakes is 23.
“This is not the way I wanted it to come out,” Nene Leakes said in her video. “We wanted to be able to talk about it ourselves when Brentt was in a better place ... but I would rather the correct thing be out there than something that’s not correct.”
The mother of two said she didn’t want to go into details about how she found her son and the condition he was in, but said that “it was very scary.” She said her son is currently having trouble speaking.
Doctors are still running tests, Nene Leakes said, because they don’t know exactly what caused the stroke. One theory is that he may’ve unknowingly contracted COVID-19, as the virus has been associated with heart problems. A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that heart issues are more common after contracting the virus rather than after getting the vaccine.
She said her son does not drink or do drugs, which are known factors in increasing the risk of heart failure and stroke.
“They have run a number of tests on him to see what could have possibly made this happen to him,” Nene Leakes said. “We are still trying to figure it out, because if we knew the cause, obviously we could treat the cause.”
Nene Leakes also noted that she used to struggle with blood clots in her lungs and doctors struggle to uncover the cause, so there is a chance her son may have inherited some sort of genetic heart condition. She also shut down rumors that her son’s weight played a part in the medical emergency, saying that the doctors ruled out his weight as a possible cause.
After a brief pause after the first set of videos, Leakes returned to her social media to talk about the one-year death anniversary of Brentt’s father, Gregg Leakes, who died in September 2021 at age 66 after a three-year battle with colon cancer. Leakes said this past September was particularly difficult for her son.
“He was very close to his dad, and he’s been super stressed out over it,” she said. “I don’t even know if that has anything to do with it at all. I really ask the doctors questions like that, and they seem to think that is not the case with Brentt.”
The TV personality asked her Instagram followers to keep her family in their prayers as they navigate her son’s health. She said she FaceTimed him on Monday morning, and he was “in good spirits” and showing improvement, despite his difficulties speaking.
“We’re just shocked,” she said. “Just shocked. But I thank all of you guys for your prayers.”
This story appeared first on TODAY.com.