Model Cindy Crawford has broken her silence after the death of her 27-year-old son, posting a moving tribute and photo on social media.

Presley Gerber died last month from an apparent overdose and cardiac arrest, with media reporting on the shock impacting the family.

Speaking for the first time, Crawford said the family was “beyond heartbroken to lose our beloved son and brother”.

She told her 8.2 million Instagram followers: “We feel so blessed to have had Presley in our lives for 27 years.

“He is a sweet, beautiful soul who loved and is loved, now and forever.

“We are so proud of how he showed up in the world, with kindness and vulnerability.”

She also thanked people for the “outpouring of love and support from so many who know and love our family and even strangers who feel our pain”.

Crawford signed off: “Til we meet again our sweet boy. We love you forever, Mom, Dad and Kaia 🪽”

The post was accompanied by a photo of Presley with angel wings taken by Sebastian Faena.

Police records indicated a call for an overdose in the Santa Monica-area before Presley’s death. The dispatch call also noted cardiac arrest.

Gerber had previously been candid about his struggles with mental health and substance abuse, explaining that he didn’t want other people to repeat his own “mistakes”.

“Having struggled with mental health, depression and some other things that come along with that, I think that whether I help one person or a hundred people get out of that place that I was in at one point in my life, that’s all I need to do,” he told the Studio 22 podcast.

He said helping other people with similar issues had become his life goal.

“[Mental health] is an issue. It is such a big part of my life. It’s a 24/7 job, and there’s so much to it. That’s really what I want to do: help people, whether you’re depressed, you’re struggling with something that is having a negative effect on your body. I mean it could be anything, and there’s no judgment,” Gerber said.

“I’ve seen a lot of stuff and I’ve learned a lot of things. What I hope I can do is have made the mistakes for some other people, so they don’t have to make the same mistakes that I made.”

In September, Kaia Gerber also reflected on her brother’s addiction struggles, and explained how it had shaped her own character, too.

“When something like that happens in a family, it kind of levels everyone,” she told Vogue.

“I think that’s also why I started to self-​identify as the easy one and never wanted to ask for help. Because it felt like too much to have two children who were needing.”

-with AAP