His nephew Amani Barkley passed away, according to the announcement made by Deon Derrico.
The star of “Double Down with the Derricos,” who is 53 years old, published a post on Instagram on Saturday, July 20. The post included a picture of what looked to be Amani holding someone’s hand, as well as a lengthy statement about his nephew.
“Friends, family, and supporters of my… A portion of what he wrote was, “It is with great sadness that I, Deon Derrico, announce the passing of my loving nephew Amani Barkley.” “Our family is devastated.”
Deon proceeded by saying, “Amani, as many of you are aware, was the son of my late brother Christopher S. Turner and Stacey Dickey,” as he related the story of the first time he and his family had the opportunity to meet his nephew. “We met Amani just two years ago as seen on @tlc’s Doubling Down With The Derricos, and you guys along with my family fell in love with him and in this short time we have built a bond with Amani, and merged our families forever!”
The fourth season of the TLC reality series, which follows the struggles that Deon and his wife Karen face as they father 14 children, followed the pair as they met Amani for the first time. The series even established via a DNA test that Deon and Amani were, in fact, uncle and nephew.
The season, which aired in 2023, also included Amani’s journey exploring his connection with his late father, who was Deon’s brother. Additionally, the season depicted Amani’s first encounter with Deon’s mother, GG, who was his grandmother.
Over the course of the years that have passed, it seems that Amani and the Derricos have become even more close, and the family of sixteen has been open and honest about Amani’s challenges with her health. According to a GoFundMe campaign that was started by the Derricos one month ago, Deon has been providing updates on Amani’s difficulties with autoimmune hepatitis throughout the course of the last several months. Amani was diagnosed with the condition when he was 14 years old or younger.
According to the Mayo Clinic, the condition is brought on by the immune system attacking the liver, and it may lead to cirrhosis or liver failure if left untreated.
According to the GoFundMe campaign, which sought to earn more than $17,000 to cover Amani’s medical expenses and provide financial assistance for his son Adonis, who is one year old, the ailment necessitated that Amani get a liver transplant when he was 21 years old.
Over the course of the month of June, Amani had an emergency operation to get his third transplant. In the beginning of this month, Deon disclosed on the GoFundMe page that his nephew was still dealing with substantial difficulties and difficulties related to his health.
“My nephew leaves behind his son Adonis, mother Stacey, and a complete host of other family and friends,” Deon said in his Instagram post making the announcement of Amani’s passing. “While GG, and I are here in Detroit for the funeral we will be updating you all with more details.”
Additionally, Deon requested that his followers on Instagram make contributions to “The Deon Derrico and Marian Derrico Foundation” in order to “help other families of liver transplant patients and recipients, as well as cancer patients and recipients.”
“We thank you all for your love and prayers and please know, although Amani, has transitioned over to JESUS, your prayers were answered as GODs will was done!” Deon brought his position to a close. “We Thank You, Amen.