Dwight Howard Reveals The Mother Of His Son Died From Epileptic Seizure

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Earlier this week, Dwight Howard revealed that the mother of his 6-year-old son passed away just weeks ago after suffering a seizure.

According to reports from ESPN, Melissa Rios had an epileptic seizure on March 27 at her home in Calabasas, California that resulted in her death. The Lakers star shared the tragic news during a video conference call that took place on Friday.

“I’ve had some things happen in my personal life that has been difficult to really handle,” Howard revealed during the call. “My son’s mom, she had passed away a month and a half ago and it’s extremely difficult for me to try to understand how to talk to my son, who’s 6 years old, just about the whole situation.”

Their son, David, was in Georgia spending time with Howard while the NBA is on hiatus. Dwight says he was planning on inviting the mother of his child to his home to spend time with their son, which is when he found out that she passed away.

Luckily, despite all of the restrictions due to COVID-19, Howard and his son, David, were able to attend Rios’ funeral in Reno, Nevada. Those in attendance adhered to strict social distancing measures, but above all, Howard felt like he needed to be there.

“There was no way I could not be there for my son, and even for her family,” Howard said about attending the funeral. “I definitely would’ve felt like that would’ve been bad. She deserves and he would deserve better if I didn’t do that that.”

Dwight also told ESPN that being around David and his four other children have helped him put the tragic situation in perspective.

“Every moment counts,” the baller explained. “Be grateful for every situation that you have, just be grateful for life. I think we also take for granted the little things and just spending time with people and stuff like that. And you know after having all these situations, it’s like, reconfirming to me just stay in the moment. Always be grateful. Always be grateful for everything you have, every little thing that happens.”