NeNe Leakes' 23-year-old son Brentt recovering after stroke, heart failure: 'Very scary'

Brentt Leakes, the 23-year-old son of reality star NeNe Leakes, is recovering after suffering congestive heart failure and a stroke, his mother shared Monday on Instagram.

In a series of Instagram story videos, NeNe Leakes addressed speculation about her son following a TMZ report about the incident published Monday morning.

"This is not the way I wanted it to come out," Leakes said in her video. "We wanted to be able to talk about it ourselves when Brentt was in a better place, (but) I would rather the correct thing be out there than something that's not correct."

The "Real Housewives of Atlanta" alum explained: "Two weeks ago today, Brentt had congestive heart failure and a stroke. He's only 23 so he's really young for something like that to happen to him. … It was very scary. I don't even want to go into details of what happened and how I found out and what condition he was in."

Leakes said she FaceTimed with her son that morning and he "is in good spirits" but "struggling with speaking."

"I'm just baffled. It's a lot," she added. "So just keep praying and I will speak to you guys whenever I can. Again, he has shown some improvement and we're really happy and blessed for that."

USA TODAY has reached out to a representative for Leakes for further comment.

Leakes, also an actress and entrepreneur, starred on "Real Housewives of Atlanta" from 2008 to 2020; Brentt grew up on the show during that time.

What caused Brentt Leakes' stroke and congestive heart failure?

For someone so young to experience such a health issue, medical experts frequently first wonder if the patient has used drugs or has HIV or another a serious infection, Leakes said, per the doctors' explanation.

"Brentt doesn't drink or do drugs, and obviously they've tested him for all those things," she said.

The doctors also don't believe weight had anything to do with the condition, Leakes said. The reality star noted she struggled with blood clots in her lungs a few years ago, so it's possible that her son may have been born with a heart condition or disease that did not present itself until now. And though Brentt told doctors he never knowingly had COVID-19, they said it was also possible he previously caught the virus and was now experiencing complications, Leakes said.

"They have run a number of tests on him to see what could have possibly made this happen to him," Leakes added. "We are still trying to figure it out, because if we knew the cause, obviously we could treat the cause."

'Some days I'm up, some days I'm down': NeNe Leakes shares grief after husband Gregg's death

"Everybody becomes a doctor at this time, telling you what to do and what not to do," she said. "I'm being asked a million questions but one of the things I do know (is that) Brentt was very stressed out in the month of September, because that was the one-year anniversary of the passing of his dad."

Gregg Leakes died Sept. 1, 2021, at age 67 after he was diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer in 2018. He and NeNe Leakes married in 1997 and welcomed Brentt in 1999. Both also had children from previous relationships.

"He was very close to his dad and he's been super stressed out over it," Leakes added. "I don't even know if that has anything to do with it at all, and doctors seem to think that is not the case with Brentt. … I will just keep praying we find the cause."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NeNe Leakes' son Brentt has stroke, congestive heart failure