What Happened To Cameron Boyce: Inside The Tragic Death Of The Disney Channel Star
In 2019, at the age of 20, Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce passed away. The actor, who was best known for starring in the "Descendants" film series as the anti-hero son of Cruella de Vil (Wendy Raquel Robinson), suffered a seizure in his sleep which was, according to a family spokesperson who spoke to ABC, the "result of an ongoing medical condition for which [Boyce] was being treated."
His parents, Victor and Libby Boyce, told "The Squeeze" — a podcast co-hosted by Taylor Lautner and his wife, Taylor Dome — that their son's larger condition was epilepsy. They confessed to misinterpreting the dangers of night-time seizures, of which their son experienced five across his lifetime.
"There's so much stuff that we didn't know before he died," said Mrs. Boyce. "Everything that Cameron had in terms of his epilepsy were actually things that we thought were positive, which were actually negative. I thought because he had [seizures] in his sleep that he was safe. But actually having them in your sleep is more common[ly] associated with people dying."
Boyce's death is specifically attributed to Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website, SUDEP is not well understood. It possesses a label but no confirmed cause, only potential causes and potential deterrents.
Cameron Boyce wanted to change the world, now his parents are trying in his stead
From "Descendants" and "Grown Ups" to "Jessie" and "Paradise City," Cameron Boyce's fame stems from his work as a performer, but he wanted to use his high-profile status to contribute as a humanitarian. A Disney Channel spokesperson told People, "From a young age, Cameron Boyce ... was fueled by a strong desire to make a difference in peoples' lives through his humanitarian work. He was an incredibly talented performer, a remarkably caring and thoughtful person and, above all else, he was a loving and dedicated son, brother, grandson and friend." Before his passing, Boyce lent his abilities to Thirst Project, a non-profit organization whose aim is to provide safe drinking water to suffering communities.
In his stead, Victor and Libby Boyce are using their son's posthumous platform to champion medical awareness for epilepsy. The couple created the Cameron Boyce Foundation, a company that strives to fund the National Institute of Health's epilepsy research. They also filmed a PSA for K(NO)W SUDEP NOW. "We really feel strongly that we need to have this conversation because epilepsy is the most common disease that we know the least about," Mrs. Boyce told People. "So we want to bring in donations ... and have as many conversations as we can so that we can make epilepsy have the attention that [it] so needs and deserves."
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the Cameron Boyce Foundation has raised over $1 million for epilepsy research, the global water crisis, and the creative arts.