Cindy Crawford, the renowned supermodel, recently reflected on the profound impact of her brother’s death from leukemia during an emotional interview. Now 59 years old, Crawford shared her family’s journey as they navigated the challenges of her brother’s diagnosis and the lasting effects his illness had on their lives.
Crawford shared that her brother was diagnosed with leukemia as a toddler, at just two years old. When Crawford was only eight years old, his family learned that he had GLS. At the time, his older sister was just ten and his younger sister only four years old. The escalation in violence meant that she and her siblings had to camp with other close relatives until their other brother received treatment at a local public hospital.
For two years, Crawford’s brother fought valiantly against the disease before losing his battle in 2018. She recounted how devastating the loss was for their entire family, stating, “I think when he died, obviously that was devastating for the whole family.”
In retrospect, throughout this difficult period, Crawford’s mother was a key figure in both protecting the family’s ability to grieve and maintaining their privacy. Though she was heartbroken herself, she made sure to support her other children. Crawford noted, “My mom was home and wasn’t working at the time. Like she was able to help us deal with it.”
As a parent, Crawford recounted the ins and outs of navigating grief. Looking back on her own experiences, she remembered, “When I had my first child and I was like, ‘How did you do it?’ It’s so unimaginable—you don’t know the pain of losing a child until you become a parent. And even then, you don’t want to picture it.
She used the time to promote her mother’s strength in helping the family cope with their loss. I believe that for my mom, she was physically, spiritually, and emotionally able and intentionally chose to grieve well. She went to death and dying courses. She has a very strong faith. So she was just really fortunate in how she was able to process that grief,” Crawford said.
After her brother’s death, Crawford’s father returned to work just a few days later. This was the right decision, but this was a terrible thing for the whole family. In a poignant reflection of their upbringing, Crawford recalled her mother’s response to their father’s strictness: “You can’t be hitting the kids that hard, you know, that’s not a spanking.”
Crawford was aware of her brother’s condition when they were young. She didn’t appreciate fully what was going on and how grave his illness was. She remarked, “I didn’t really feel it as a kid, and I didn’t know and we knew he was sick, but we didn’t really know what was going on.”
