Jennifer Hudson has credited her son David for saving her life following the murders of her mother, brother and nephew. The Oscar-winner's family members were killed by her former brother-in-law William Balfour in 2008, and she welcomed her first child the following year.
"I went from being an aunt, having a mom, and being a child to not having a mom, becoming a mom, and raising my own child," Jennifer told Glamour magazine. "I tell David all the time, 'You saved my life'."
The 34-year-old also said she doesn't like to talk about the issue with anyone who hasn't experienced loss themselves.
© Photo: Getty ImagesJennifer Hudson says her son David saved her life
"It's frustrating as hell to me to have somebody who ain't lost nothing try to talk to me about it," she explained. "I want to say, 'Don't even bother, because you know nothing'."
She continued: "But you never know how much you can get through until you're going through it."
Jennifer's mother Darnell Donnerson and brother Jason were found shot dead in their home in Chicago in October 2008, and the body of her seven-year-old nephew Julian was found days later.
Jennifer is engaged to WWE wrestler David Otunga
They were killed by her sister's estranged husband William Balfour, who was served three life sentences in 2012.
Jennifer, who is engaged to WWE wrestler David Otunga, has since gone on to achieve incredible success in her career and will make her Broadway debut in The Colour Purple in November. The actress has also worked on the upcoming Spike Lee film Chi-Raq, which she says was difficult to film as she plays a mother who loses her child to gang violence.
"There's a scene where we're all holding up boards with [photos of] our slain children on them. I turned around, and it's a sea of real women [as extras] holding pictures of children they actually lost," she said. "I'm a character holding a picture of a little girl, but in real life I have the same story."
