Cindy Crawford reveals surprising way in which her late brother's leukemia was discovered
Cindy Crawford has revealed that her brother's leukemia was discovered after a spanking from his father in the early 1970s.
Cindy Crawford has revealed that her brother's leukemia was discovered after a spanking from his father.
The 59-year-old supermodel lost her younger sibling Jeffrey when he died in the early 1970s following a battle with the blood cell cancer, and has explained that the symptoms were noticed when it became apparent that his bruises were too prominent to have come from a physical punishment.
Speaking on the ' Kelly Corrigan Wonders' podcast, she explained: "I know this sounds very, like, child abuse, but, you know, we definitely were spanked as kids.
"My mother, she would say, 'Go to your room, you're getting a spanking.' And that waiting period to your point was just like the worst.
"I have a brother who died, and he had leukemia, and before we knew he had leukemia, one of the symptoms of leukemia is you bruise super easily.
"My dad had, like, swatted him, but it left like a handprint on him..
"[My mom said] 'You can't be hitting the kids that hard, you know, that's not a spanking...'
"And my dad was like, 'No, I swear I barely touched them.' And then later that week, we found out that he had leukemia, so I think that that was it. My dad... he never could spank again."
Cindy admitted that she "didn't really" understand what was going on with her brother at the time but recalled that her mother had a "very strong faith" that allowed her to grieve.
She said: "I mean, so I was eight. My older sister would have been 10, my younger sister would have been four.
"And Jeff was like two, turning three when he got diagnosed, and then he was sick for two years."
"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.
"I think when he died, obviously that was devastating for the whole family. I think for my mother, she was able and chose to really grieve properly.
"She went to death and dying courses. She has a very strong faith. So she was able to move through grief."
