Heiress Kerry Kennedy pays tribute to niece Kyle a day after it was announced she had died aged just 42

Kerry Kennedy has paid tribute to her niece Kyle Kennedy, who died aged 42, saying the family is heartbroken. Kyle was a teacher, disability advocate and mother whose later years were shaped by a severe spinal cord injury.

Kyle died at home in Westwood, Massachusetts, on 21 September; the cause and manner of death have not been disclosed. She had three children: Conor and Declan, aged 12 and 10, and Josie, Conor’s twin, who died days after birth in 2014. Kyle was permanently paralysed after a spinal cord injury in 2020, and testified to Massachusetts legislators in 2025 about healthcare discrimination against disabled people.