By Adam Shapiro

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 09/24/09 – John Travolta took the stand this morning in the trial of two Bahamians allegedly involved in an extortion plot against his family. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former Bahamas senator Pleasant Bridgewater, are the two men accused of attempting to extort $25 million from the grieving movie star.

While on the stand, Travolta was faced with the extremely difficult task of revisiting the moments before his 16-year-old son, Jett, tragically passed away on Jan. 2 during a family vacation at the Old Bahama Bay resort on Grand Bahama Island. The grim actor told how he and his wife, Kelly Preston, were awakened by Jett’s nanny at roughly 10:15 am frantically informing him that Jett was unconscious on the bathroom floor. Travolta immediately ran downstairs to help and found one of his son’s caretakers already performing chest compressions. He himself quickly began administering CPR on his fallen son. “Jeff, the other nanny, was doing some compressions,” he said. “I was doing the breathing.” During his testimony, Travolta also admitted for the first time that Jett not only suffered from Kawasaki disease but autism, a fact assumed by most in Hollywood but never openly discussed by the star. “He was autistic,” he said. “He suffered from a seizure disorder.” He went into further details regarding Jett’s bouts with seizures, explaining how Jett would experience a 45-second seizure every five to 10 days and then usually sleep for 12 hours after the episode. In the untimely end, Jett’s death certificate would rule cause of death as a seizure disorder.

The alleged blackmail scheme revolves around a refusal-to-transport document that purportedly would show Travolta refusing an ambulance. However, Travolta signed the document because he had requested that Jett be taken directly to the airport and be flown to Florida in order to receive emergency treatment in the US.

14 witnesses are scheduled to testify against Tarino Lightbourne and Pleasant Bridgewater, with the trial expected to last three weeks.

Ella, John, Jett and Kelly Travolta