Nisa Vanzant, Iyanla Vanzant’s youngest child, passed away, according to her mother.
“It is with great sorrow that we announce the transition of Nisa Vanzant the youngest daughter of our Beloved Iyanla Vanzant,” a post shared on the life coach’s Instagram said on Sunday.
“We are asking for your prayers. Please respect the privacy of her and her family at this time. Thank you,” the message continued. A photo was posted with the announcement, in which a burning white candle appeared alongside the words, “Nisa Vanzant 1974-2023.”
Nisa’s death’s circumstances have not been revealed in any greater detail.
Twenty years have passed since the death of Iyanla’s daughter Gemmia, who passed away on Christmas Day in 2003 at the age of 32 from colon.
Iyanla reflected on Gemmia’s death when she appeared on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast in 2021. “God must’ve really, really trusted me to give me a soul to bring into life and to trust me with the courage to send her out,” Iyanla said on the podcast.
In 2014, the Iyanla: Fix My Life host recalled how she found journals of Gemmia’s after her death, which Iyanla said “saved my life.”
“Because I was really ready to leave out of here,” Iyanla told Oprah Winfrey during a 2014 episode ofSuper Soul Sunday, according tothe Huffington Post. “I have had so much pain in my life, I didn’t think I could sustain another hour.”
Iyanla has a 53-year-old son Damon.
Iyanla’s work as a public defender at the start of her career led to radio hosting work and, later, a regular guest appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show in the 1990s. She subsequently debuted Iyanla, her own talk program, in 2001. Iyanla then made a comeback with Iyanla: Fix My Life, which broadcast on Winfrey’s network OWN for 10 seasons from 2012 to 2021.
Iyanla went into more detail on coping with her daughter Gemmia’s loss back in 2013. Iyanla said to PEOPLE at the time, “I knew she was dying, but she didn’t know. “I took care of her day in and day out for 15 months. What will you do next? I didn’t leave my bed for six months.
Iyanla, who placed a strong emphasis on her faith, eventually overcame that difficult moment in her life “with prayer and forgiveness,” as she told PEOPLE.
