Richard Engel honors late son on what would have been his 7th birthday
Richard Engel is trying to find the good on a very sad day.
The NBC News chief foreign correspondent paid tribute to his son Henry, who died last month from a neurological disorder, on what would have been his 7th birthday.
“Henry would have turned 7 today,” Engel, 49, tweeted Thursday, alongside a photo of Henry.
“A big thank you to everyone who sent kind and thoughtful messages, and donated to support medical research to defeat Rett Syndrome. Happy Birthday Binks (our nickname).”
Engel also provided a link to the Texas Children’s Hospital, which is fundraising for the cause.
The journalist previously announced that Henry died from Rett syndrome — a rare neurological disorder that affects the way the brain develops — on Aug. 18, just five years after he was diagnosed with the incurable disease.
“Our beloved son Henry passed away. He had the softest blue eyes, an easy smile and a contagious giggle,” the journalist, who is married to Mary Forrest, tweeted at the time.
“We always surrounded him with love and he returned it, and so much more. Mary and Richard.”
Many of Engel’s colleagues, including Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie, honored the young boy’s “sweet spirit” following his tragic death.
The news of Henry’s passing came just months after Engel revealed his son’s health had taken a “turn for the worse.”
“For everyone following Henry’s story, unfortunately, he’s taken a turn for the worse,” the NBC News correspondent tweeted back in June. “His condition progressed and he’s developed dystonia: uncontrolled shaking/ stiffness.”
Engel continued, “He was in the hospital for 6 weeks, but is now home and getting love from brother Theo.”
According to the Mayo Clinic, dystonia is “a movement disorder in which your muscles contract involuntarily, causing repetitive or twisting movements.”
Engel and his wife are also parents to son Theo, whom they welcomed in August 2019.
