Kyle Kennedy, Robert F Kennedy's granddaughter, dies at 42, cause of death remains unknown

Kyle Kennedy, the granddaughter of former US attorney general Robert F. Kennedy, has died at the age of 42, six years after suffering a severe spinal cord injury that left her paralysed.

Kennedy died on September 21 at her home in Westwood, Massachusetts, although her death was widely reported on Tuesday, October 20.

According to her obituary, funeral services were held privately, while authorities have yet to establish the cause of her death. But who was Kyle Kennedy, and what happened to her?

Born in Washington, DC, in 1984, she was the daughter of Michael Kennedy and Victoria Denise Gifford, whose father was American football legend Frank Gifford.

Kyle was just 13 when her father died in a skiing accident in Colorado in 1997. She went on to graduate from Georgetown University and advanced degrees from Pace University and Harvard University.

Kennedy started her career as a teacher in New York City and then spent many years campaigning for the betterment of education for underprivileged children.

Interestingly, she was also an accomplished runner who completed the Boston Marathon in 2019, beating her late father's time by 20 minutes.

In 2020, her life took a drastic turn with a spinal cord injury that resulted in long-term paralysis and other ailments. She subsequently became an advocate for people with disabilities, even testifying before Massachusetts lawmakers about discrimination in healthcare.

Her obituary also revealed that she had lost her infant daughter, Josie, shortly after birth. Kennedy is survived by her two sons, Conor and Declan, her mother, two siblings and other family members.

The prior injury has received attention after her death, but there is no official link found between the injury and death.