Mayte Garcia found it "liberating and healing" to write about her son's death in her new memoir.
Mayte Garcia
The 43-year-old dancer and her late ex-husband Prince tragically lost their son Amiir only six days into his life after he was born with rare genetic disorder Pfeiffer syndrome type 2 and admits it was cathartic to open up about her loss in her new book, 'The Most Beautiful: My Life with Prince'.
Speaking on Good Morning America, she said: "It was how he handled it and I respected that. It was really hard, but it was also very liberating and healing [to write about it] because for so many years I held it in.
"[I know] when we lost Amiir, I read a lot of books that helped me and I'm hoping that somebody will read this and that it will help them as well."
In the memoir, Mayte claimed Prince burned their late son's ashes.
She wrote: "In some sad, painful moment, he had it all burned, as if fire could cauterise this deep wound he couldn't close. I wasn't there to witness it, and I can't bear to think about it now."
And Mayte doesn't think Prince - who died in April 2016 from a Fentanyl overdose - ever got over their son's death.
She said: "I don't think he ever got over it. I don't know how anybody can get over it. I know I haven't ...
"I don't know how to describe the look on my husband's face. Pure joy. And then they held the baby up to those harsh lights. The elation on my husband's face turned to pure terror.
"Pfeiffer syndrome type 2 is a genetic disorder that causes skeletal and systematic abnormalities. The premature fusing of the bones in the skull, sometimes resulting in 'cloverleaf skull,' in which the eyes are outside the sockets. The fusion of bones in the hands and feet causing a webbed or pawlike appearance ... I learned all of this later.
"They brought the baby over to us. He was curled on his side, gasping shallow little gulps of air. Because there were no lids to blink, his eyes looked startled and dry. I caught hold of his tiny hand, saying over and over, 'Mama loves you, Mama's here.'"
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