Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter has died aged 42, six years after a spinal cord injury left her paralysed.
Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of the former US senator and Ethel Kennedy, died "peacefully" at her home in Massachusetts in September, an obituary posted by Burke Funeral Homes confirmed on Tuesday.
A cause of death was not disclosed, but Ms Kennedy suffered long-term paralysis following a severe spinal cord injury in 2020.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementAn advocate for education and disability rights, the obituary paid tribute to her "formidable intellect", adding that she "fought to maintain her dry wit and determination through it all" in the years after her injury.
Tragic and untimely deaths have plagued the Kennedy family over several decades.
Ms Kennedy's grandfather was assassinated in 1968 after being shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. The incident followed his victory speech after he won a crucial Democratic race that would have set him on course to stand in the presidential election that year.
From left: Robert F Kennedy with his wife, Ethel, daughter Kerry Kennedy and granddaughter Kyle - Shutterstock
His death came five years after his brother, John F Kennedy, the US president at the time, was assassinated while riding in an open-top motorcade through Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMs Kennedy's father, Michael LeMoyne Kennedy, died in a tragic accident in 1997 after skiing into a tree on a New Year's Eve outing in Aspen, Colorado.
Her death also comes less than a year after her second-cousin, Tatiana Schlossberg, one of three grandchildren to JFK and Jackie Kennedy Onassis, died aged 35 following a battle with acute myeloid leukaemia.
The environmental journalist revealed she had terminal cancer in a November 2025 essay in The New Yorker, in which she took aim at the Trump administration's health policies and warned they could harm other patients.
Robert F Kennedy Jr, another member of the Kennedy dynasty and Ms Schlossberg's cousin, is the current US health secretary. Ms Schlossberg said she was deeply worried that the avowed vaccine sceptic had slashed crucial research and placed vital medicines under review, including a blood-clotting drug that had helped her during her illness.
Ms Kennedy suffered long-term paralysis following a severe spinal cord injury in 2020
"Bobby has said, 'There's no vaccine that is safe and effective.' Bobby probably doesn't remember the millions of people who were paralysed or killed by polio before the vaccine was available," she wrote in the essay.
AdvertisementAdvertisementOther members of the Kennedy family, known colloquially as "US royalty", have had their lives cut short in plane crashes and other disasters.
Love Story, a recent Hulu TV series, dramatised the relationship of John F Kennedy Jr, a lawyer and the son of the former US president, and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a fashion publicist.
The pair died when a light aircraft the Kennedy scion was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near Martha's Vineyard, an affluent summer holiday island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Ms Bessette-Kennedy's sister, Lauren Bessette, was also on board. All three died in the crash.
AdvertisementAdvertisementMs Kennedy, who died at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, on Sep 21, is survived by her two children, Conor, 12, and Declan, 10, and her ex-husband, Liam Kerr. Her daughter Josie, Conor's twin sister, died as an infant several days after she was born.
Her obituary, shared on Tuesday, said Ms Kennedy "loved art, animals and travel", and had been a passionate athlete before her accident. It said her family hoped she would be remembered for her support for educational reform for disadvantaged children and for people living with disabilities.
