Shaquille O’Neal is heartbroken over the loss of his beloved sister, Ayesha Harrison-Jex, who died Thursday (Oct. 24) morning at just 40 years old.
O’Neal’s Inside the NBA co-hosts announced her passing during the show Thursday evening. “The big fella’ who is described as the ‘biggest kid in the world,’ his heart is breaking tonight,” Ernie Johnson Jr. revealed to viewers as the show took a moment to honor Harrison, and to extend their condolences to O’Neal and his family. “He said his world revolves around his brother and two sisters and he lost one of his sisters this morning.”
Johnson Jr. admitted that O’Neal wasn’t handling the loss well. “I’m trying to put into words the way Shaquille has reacted to this, and he is struggling. And when he struggles, we struggle with him because he’s one of our brothers.”
Harrison-Jex, a mother and graduate of Florida A&M University where she obtained a bachelor’s and masters’ degree, had been battling cancer for the last three years. According to Facebook, Harrison-Jex graced the runway and shared her cancer testimony at charity event in May. She will be laid to rest in a military ceremony and is expected to be buried next to O’Neal’s stepfather, Sgt. Phillip Harrison.
See more on Harrison-Jex in the video below.
“Big Fella, you hang in there.”
Ernie, Kenny, Charles & Commissioner Silver’s thoughts are with the O’Neal family pic.twitter.com/5yUtdhjWkZ
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) October 24, 2019