Hollywood action man Sylvester Stallone has revealed he “wailed” with grief after the death of his son Sage in 2012 – admitting he felt overwhelmed with “pain and grief and guilt”.
Sylvester Stallone “wailed” with grief after the death of his son Sage.
The Hollywood action man was left devastated after his eldest child – who he shared with ex-wife Sasha Czack – died in 2012 at the age of 36 due to a heart condition and Stallone has confessed he felt overwhelmed with “pain and grief and guilt” as he dealt with the tragedy.
In an interview with The New York Times, Stallone recalled the moment he was told about his son’s death in a phone call from his mother Jackie’s third husband Dr Stephen Levine. Stallone said: “‘I’ll never forget, it was so cold: My mother’s new husband, who I’d never even met, who was a doctor, called me and goes: ‘Sly, he’s gone. Sage – he’s gone.’ I went: ‘Gone where?’ ‘He died, he’s gone. I’m sorry.’ Click.”
The Rocky actor added: “The thing is, you have so many episodes of guilt. Like: What could I have done? Should I have been there? What if I did that? If I went right or went left?”
Stallone explained he kept his composure for several days as the family planned the funeral arrangements but he broke down days later.
He said: “Because of the funeral, dealing with the mother, dealing with your life in the present, it just takes you into a whole other world. You go: ‘Wow, I’m holding it together. When’s it going to happen?’
“And then about a week later, I was all alone in my room, and a wail came out of me I’ve never heard before or since. It was just pain and grief and guilt. It was not human.”
Stallone went on to remember Sage – who played his onscreen son in 1990 movie Rocky V – and insist he had a bright future before his life was cut short.,
He told the publication: “All I can say is that he was a very kind kid. He had a great mother. He would have done wonderful things in the future.
“I just had no idea that he had something [a heart condition] that you would expect a very advanced adult to have. But no, you don’t get over that.”
Sylvester Stallone ‘wailed with grief’ after son’s death
