Two years ago, Michael Jackson’s only daughter Paris tried to kill herself by swallowing 20 Motrin PM pills and slicing up her wrist with a meat cleaver. Today, at 17, she has bounced back with a mature resolve to embrace life with the help of a new boyfriend, 18-year-old soccer player Chester Castellaw.
On the Paris Jackson Fan Group Facebook page is a message attributed to her, seemingly directed at herself, reflecting a changed attitude.
“Stop with the hate. You’re blessed to be on this freaking planet. So be grateful that you’re alive.”
According to the Examiner going back two years to the night of her tragic attempt on June 6, 2013 , she wrote a note and phoned a suicide hotline before inflicting cuts on her right wrist and swallowing the Motrin pills. An ambulance dispatched by 911 took her to a hospital for stitching before she was placed under psychiatric watch for 72 hours.
This sequence of events happened at a time when she was being bullied at school over a media expose of her late father’s dalliances with boys and his obsession with child porn , according to New York Daily News . Contents of her note were never revealed, but on the night of her suicide attempt, she tweeted a message.
“I wonder why tears are salty?… yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away now it looks as though they’re here to stay.”
Her romance with Castellaw developed weeks prior to her birthday on April 3, 2015. International Business Times reported them pairing up together in March when they were seen on a hike in Los Angeles. On April 17, Castellaw posted pictures and videos of them declaring love for each other on his Facebook page.
Physically, they appear to be well matched. Paris Jackson’s height is five-feet nine-inches, while Chester Castellaw stands at five-feet ten-inches.
And the Jackson family has raised no objections to the match-up. T.J. Jackson, nephew of the late Michael Jackson, was generous in his opinion of Castellaw. In an interview with E.T. Online , T.J. who was appointed Paris’ co-guardian in 2012, had this to say.
“I approve of him. No one’s perfect, but he’s a good boy, so I approve of him… He treats her well. She’s happy.”
T.J. also acts as co-guardian to Paris’ brothers Prince, 18, and Blanket, 13, according to International Business Times . The other co-guardian is their grandmother, Katherine Jackson.
Not much is known of Castellaw other than that he is native to Los Angeles where he studied at the Crespi Carmelite High School. After that, he enrolled at the University of California in Berkeley where he continues to study. Not only is he a soccer forward there, he also qualified as a member of the U.S. Under-14 National Team. He is currently a player in the Real So Cal Soccer Club.
As for Paris, daughter of legend Michael Jackson and nurse Debbie Rowe, tragedy has fallen behind as a life of promise beckons ahead. Her one regret, according to The Sun , is that her Dad promised to teach her to moonwalk , but never did.
[Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images]