Inside Lisa Marie Presley’s ‘unrelenting grief’ over son Benjamin’s suicide

Lisa Marie Presley penned an essay sharing her ‘unrelenting grief’ over her son Benjamin’s untimely death just five months before she suffered a ‘full cardiac arrest.’

The 54-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley was rushed to a hospital after paramedics were able to reestablish her pulse, TMZ reported on Thursday.

Back in August of 2022, Presley penned an essay about her attempts to move on from her son Benjamin’s death to mark National Grief Awareness.

‘I can understand why people may want to avoid you once a terrible tragedy has struck. Especially a parent losing their child because it is truly your worst nightmare,’ she wrote in her essay, which was published by People. 

Benjamin Keough was 27 at the time of his death.

In the emotional essay, Presley admitted that she had kept her distance from the parents of other people whose children died by suicide, something that now seemed to haunt her. 

‘I can recall a couple of times in my life where I knew parents who lost their child and while I could be there for them when it happened, I avoided them after and never bothered to follow up with them because they quite literally became a representative of my biggest fear,’ she wrote.

‘I also low-key judged them, and I swore I’d never do whatever it was that I felt they either did or neglected in their parental actions and choices with their child.’ 

Terrible fear: In the emotional essay, published by People, Presley admitted that she had kept her distance from the parents of other people whose children died by suicide, something that now seemed to haunt her; seen on Tuesday at the Golden Globes in Beverly Hills

The daughter of Priscilla Presley — who was seen rushing to her side at the hospital after her medical emergency — wrote that she had been ‘living in the horrific reality’ of grief’s ‘unrelenting grips’ ever since her son’s death.

Unfortunately, it was a feeling she was well versed in, having suffered the death of her father Elvis Presley in 1977, which was initially said to be from cardiac arrest, though his prodigious drug use is also believed to have been a factor.

Presley admitted in her essay that grief is not a ‘comfortable subject for anyone’ and is ‘most unpopular’ to discuss.

But she believed it was necessary to speak openly about grief and tragedy if any ‘progress’ was to be made.

No stranger to family tragedy: Presley, seen in 2010 in London with Michael Lockwood and Ben, previously dealt with grief following the death of her father Elvis Presley in 1977