CNN’s Rene Marsh announces son, 2, has died of brain cancer: ‘I am forever changed because of you’

CNN Correspondent Rene Marsh is mourning the death of her toddler son.

The journalist on Thursday announced the passing of 2-year-old Blake with a heartfelt Instagram tribute, including several pictures of the little boy.

“To my dear sweet Blake aka ‘Blakey’,” began Marsh. “In your 25 months on earth you taught me how much strength I had stored up in reserve that I didn’t know I had. You taught me endurance. You taught me a depth of love I have never experienced. You inspired me to keep going when I wanted to give up. You helped me prioritize what is truly important in this life.

“I am forever changed because of you, my son,” she continued. “I feel blessed and honored to have been your mom. I wish we had more time together but I’m grateful for the time we had.”

Marsh noted that Blake had “mastered the ability to bring laughter and happiness into whatever room you were in.”

She said her son loved to say “‘no,’ no matter what question I asked,” would hug and kiss “on demand,” and was a “top notch” dancer who “loved humming classical music,” particularly Mozart’s Serenade no. 13.

“The good times we shared are forever in my heart,” said Marsh, before adding she “didn’t just lose you Blakey, I lost all the dreams and hopes that a mom has for a son. I lost my motherhood and I’m mourning it all.”

Marsh vowed to spend the rest of her days fighting pediatric cancer “not just to spare other parents from this unbearable pain” but “to forever honor” her son.

“Your life was not in vain my sweet angel. Mommy loves you and I look forward to holding and kissing you when we meet again.”

Marsh in February wrote an opinion piece for CNN in which she noted that she and husband Kedric Payne had been told for six months Blake was in remission until they were told otherwise in November, by which point it had spread. The article followed up a piece she’d written in June, entitled, “Wearing a mask isn’t political. It could protect my son’s life.”

Blake died Wednesday, a month to the day after his second birthday.

Another CNN employee, Andrew Kaczynski, of the network’s KFILE investigation team, announced on Christmas Day that his 9-month-old daughter Francesca died of complications from cancer.