RFK granddaughter Kyle Kennedy dead at 42, educator ran Boston Marathon 20 minutes faster than her late father before a 2020 spinal cord injury left her paralysed

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Granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, Kyle Kennedy, Dead at 42 breitbart.com

Kyle Kennedy, a granddaughter of Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 42. She died on 21 September, according to People magazine; the family obituary gives no cause or manner of death.

She was the daughter of Michael Kennedy, one of Robert F. and Ethel Kennedy's 34 grandchildren, and she was 13 when her father died in 1997 after skiing into a tree while playing football on skis with other members of the family. Her mother, Victoria Gifford, is the daughter of the football player Frank Gifford and stepdaughter of Kathie Lee Gifford. Her uncle is the Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Kennedy was born in Washington, D.C., in 1984 and built her working life around other people's children. After college she taught in New York City through the Teach For America programme, and her obituary describes a career dedicated to early childhood education and to reform for disadvantaged children and people with disabilities. In 2019 she ran the Boston Marathon and finished 20 minutes faster than her late father ever had. The following year a severe spinal cord injury left her with long-term paralysis. She went on to testify before Massachusetts lawmakers about discrimination in healthcare for people with disabilities.

The most circulated response on X argued that she deserves to be remembered for more than her famous surname — for the marathon, the testimony and the teaching rather than the family name. She is survived by two young sons.