Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, dies at age 42

Kyle Kennedy, granddaughter of the American politician Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 42. The funeral was held privately. She is survived by two sons, her former husband, her mother and other relatives.

Kyle was born on 6 July 1984 in Washington, but grew up mostly in Cohasset, Massachusetts. She graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in history, and later earned master’s degrees in education from Pace University and Harvard University.

She devoted her professional life mainly to the education of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. She worked as a teacher in New York public schools and later took part in school reform.

Sport and family

In 2012 in Boston, Kyle married Liam Kerr, and the couple had three children. She loved sport and ran endurance races. In 2019 she ran the Boston Marathon in heavy rain and finished twenty minutes faster than her father.

Her daughter Josie, Conor’s twin, died a few days after birth. Today her sons Conor and Declan are 12 and 10 years old.

Injury and the fight for the rights of people with disabilities

A year after that marathon, Kyle suffered a severe spinal cord injury that led to long-term paralysis and other health problems. As her obituary says, despite a hard fate she kept her trademark dry sense of humour and determination.

In recent years she defended the rights of people with disabilities and spoke before Massachusetts state lawmakers. The subject was discrimination against patients with disabilities in healthcare.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz