Richard Engel announces death of 6-year-old son Henry

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The foreign correspondent’s son Henry was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome in 2017

Richard Engel announced the death of his 6-year-old son Henry after his years-long battle with Rett Syndrome, a rare genetic neurological disorder.

The NBC News chief foreign correspondent, 48, shared the heartbreaking news on Twitter Thursday. Henry, whom Richard shares with his wife Mary, died on Aug. 9, according to a memorial page on the Texas Children’s Hospital website.

“Our beloved son Henry passed away. He had the softest blue eyes, an easy smile, and a contagious giggle. We always surrounded him with love and he returned it, and so much more,” Engel wrote alongside a sweet photo of his son.

In a subsequent post, Engel linked to the memorial website, adding, “Researchers are making fantastic progress using Henry’s cells to help treat RETT Syndrome so others don’t have to suffer from this dreadful condition.”
In 2017, Henry was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome, a rare inherited neurological illness that causes significant physical and cognitive disabilities and has no known cure.

In May, Engel provided an update on Henry’s health, stating that his illness had “progressed” and that he had “taken a turn for the worse.”

Richard Engel

In a video uploaded on Twitter by Engel, his son Theo, 2, kissed Henry on the forehead as Henry lay in bed. “Do you want another?” In the beautiful moment, Theo appeared to inquire before giving his big brother another kiss.

“Unfortunately, for everyone following Henry’s tale, he’s taken a turn for the worse,” the journalist captioned the heartbreaking video. “His condition worsened, and he acquired dystonia, which is uncontrolled shaking/ rigidity.”

After being hospitalized for six weeks, Henry was “finally home and enjoying affection from brother Theo,” he said at the time.

In 2019, Engel told PEOPLE that Henry “lacked a conductor gene” and that a medical team at Texas Children’s Hospital was “working to design a medicine that might help enormously.”

In 2020, Engel revealed the truth about how the COVID-19 lockdown affected Henry and their family. In an honest essay for Today, he admitted that Henry was “not doing very well” given the circumstances.

“Henry has severe special needs, and COVID has been an absolute nightmare for him and millions of other children like him. I’d add more colorful adjectives, but you get the point,” wrote Engel, adding that Henry, who was 4 at the time, “doesn’t walk or talk. He can’t feed himself efficiently. He doesn’t sit up straight. Now that he’s getting bigger, he can barely move independently.”