Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, has died at her New England home at the age of 42, her family said.
According to an online obituary, Kennedy died at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, on September 21.
Her cause and manner of death have not been disclosed. Kennedy was the mother of three children.
In 2020, she sustained a severe spinal cord injury that left her permanently paralyzed. The circumstances surrounding the injury have never been made public.
Her obituary said that, despite the devastating injury, “Kyle fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all, trying to be the best possible mother.”
Kennedy was the daughter of Michael Kennedy and the niece of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. She was also the great-niece of former President John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated in 1963. Her mother, Victoria Denise Gifford, was the daughter of NFL legend Frank Gifford.
Her death adds to the long list of tragedies involving members of the prominent Kennedy family, a pattern that has become known publicly as the “Kennedy curse.”
Kennedy’s death comes months after it was revealed that Saoirse Kennedy Hill, a niece of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., died from a fentanyl overdose after her death in 2019.
Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, died at her New England home at the age of 42, her family said.
Kyle Kennedy suffered a severe spinal cord injury in 2020 that left her permanently paralyzed. The cause and manner of death for the mother of three have not been revealed.
In her obituary, Kennedy’s family said she devoted her life to early childhood education. They remembered her as being “blessed with a formidable intellect, dry wit, and beauty.”
Kennedy was 13 when her father, Michael, died tragically in 1997 after skiing into a tree while playing football with other members of the Kennedy family.
Her daughter Josephine died days after being born in 2014. Kennedy is survived by her two sons, Conor and Declan, who are 12 and 10 years old.
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Although Kennedy largely stayed out of the public eye, her connection to one of America’s best-known political families brought her into the headlines on several occasions.
In 2012, her wedding to Liam Kerr was famously interrupted by her cousin Conor and his then-girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift.
Kennedy was left paralyzed after suffering a severe spinal cord injury in 2020. However, details about what caused the life-changing injury have never been publicly disclosed.
In her obituary, Kyle Kennedy’s family said she devoted her life to early childhood education and was “blessed with a formidable intellect, dry wit, and beauty.”
Kyle Kennedy pictured with her husband, Liam Kerr, and sons Conor and Declan. She also had a daughter, Josephine, who died in infancy in 2014.
Kyle Kennedy, right, pictured with family members Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Ethel Kennedy and Kerry Kennedy.
Kyle Kennedy’s 2012 wedding to Liam Kerr was famously interrupted by her cousin Conor and his then-girlfriend, pop star Taylor Swift, pictured above.
In her obituary, Kyle’s family said her recent years confined to a wheelchair were far away from the ‘naturally fast and competitive’ way she lived much of her life.
‘Throughout her life she could frequently be seen outrunning her peers on playgrounds, soccer pitches, and lacrosse fields, while in quieter moments tenaciously pursuing all out victory in trivial pursuit or card games,’ the obituary read.
‘As an adult, she developed a passion for long-distance running and in 2019 completed the Boston Marathon in a driving rainstorm, beating her own father’s time by twenty minutes.’
Despite suffering a severe spinal injury in 2020, the cause of which has never been revealed, Kyle’s family said she continued living through ‘paralysis, disability and medical challenges.’
‘The years that followed brought struggles but Kyle fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all, trying to be the best possible mother to her sons and caring for her two beloved, ill-behaved Wheaten terriers,’ they wrote.
‘She also began to advocate for people living with disabilities, including testifying at the Massachusetts state house in a hearing on discrimination in disabled health care.’
