Patrick Bouvier Kennedy
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy | |
---|---|
Otis Air Force Base Hospital ,
Bourne, Massachusetts, United States | |
Died | (aged 2 days)[1] | August 9, 1963
Cause of death | Hyaline membrane disease |
Burial place | Arlington National Cemetery |
Parents | |
Relatives | See Kennedy family |
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy (August 7–9, 1963) was the youngest child of United States President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. His elder siblings were Caroline, John Jr., and Arabella.
Born prematurely, Kennedy lived just over 39 hours before dying from complications of
Background
In August 1963, the 34-year-old
On the morning of Wednesday, August 7, Jackie took Caroline and John Jr. for a pony ride in Osterville, Massachusetts. While the children were riding, Kennedy felt labor pains. Walsh was summoned, and they were taken by helicopter to Otis Air Force Base.[3]
President Kennedy was at the White House at the time. August 7 was the 20th anniversary of the day that the
All of which may explain why Kennedy's friend and fellow World War II naval veteran Ben Bradlee is certain that when the president's secretary, Evelyn Lincoln, hurried into the Oval Office at 11:43 a.m. on August 7, a Wednesday, to report that Jackie had gone into premature labor on Cape Cod, there was "no way in God's earth" that he did not think, My child is being born 20 years to the day when I was rescued, a coincidence providing an additional emotional dimension to a day that would be among the most traumatic of his life.
— Thurston Clarke, JFK's Last Hundred Days (2013)[2]
Birth and treatment
While his father was aboard
Shortly after birth, Kennedy developed symptoms of hyaline membrane disease (HMD), now called infant respiratory distress syndrome (IRDS). It was detected by breathing difficulties within minutes. The president arrived, saw his son in distress, and sent for a chaplain. The infant was quickly baptized, named Patrick after his great-grandfather Patrick Joseph Kennedy (1858–1929). He was given the middle name of Bouvier after his mother's maiden name.[1][3]
The president was allowed to wheel the baby in an incubator to the First Lady's bedside. James E. Drorbaught, the pediatric specialist at Boston Children's Hospital, was flown by helicopter from Boston to consult on his case, and he recommended transfer to Boston. Five hours after birth, the infant, accompanied by Dr. Drorbaught, was rushed by ambulance to Boston Children's Hospital, 70 miles (110 km) away, in under 90 minutes. The transfer to the hospital in Boston was initially reported as a "precautionary measure," the White House said. The baby's condition was accurately reported as HMD, but it was also reported that it would take at least four days to assess his condition and that he was being given medication to assist his condition.[3]
At the time, all that could be done for a baby with hyaline membrane disease was to keep the patient's
Death and funeral
Kennedy died at 4:04 a.m. on August 9 "despite a desperate medical effort to save him" and had lived 39 hours and 12 minutes. At the time of the infant's death, the president was outside the room with the hyperbaric chamber with his brother, U.S. Attorney General
A small funeral mass was held on August 10, 1963 in the private chapel of Cardinal Richard Cushing in Boston. The president's mother Rose Kennedy was in Paris and was told not to return for the funeral, but the first lady's sister Lee Radziwill had already flown in from Greece before the baby died.
Cushing, the
The child was initially buried at Holyhood Cemetery in Brookline, Massachusetts, the president's hometown. His body and that of his stillborn sister Arabella were reinterred on December 5, 1963, alongside their father, at Arlington National Cemetery and later moved to their permanent graves in Section 45, Grid U-35.[10][11]
Legacy
Kennedy's death made 1963 a "pivotal year" for
The parents were deeply affected by the death of their child. Secret Service agent Clint Hill recalled the couple having "a distinctly closer relationship" that was visible after the child's death. Press Secretary Pierre Salinger believed that the couple had been brought closer by the presidency but even more so by the child's death.[6]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Blair, William M. (August 10, 1963). "Kennedys Mourn Death of Infant – Kennedys Mourning Baby Son; Funeral Today Will Be Private". The New York Times. p. 1.
- ^ a b c Clarke, Thurston (July 1, 2013). "How "Icebergs" John F. and Jackie Kennedy Warmed to One Another After the Death of Their Son Patrick". Vanity Fair. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ a b c Burd, Laurence (August 8, 1963). "Newborn Kennedy Son Ill". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ a b "John W. Walsh, 87, Kennedy Obstetrician". The New York Times. Associated Press. November 25, 2000. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ISBN 0313295352
- ^ a b Levingston, Steven (October 24, 2013). "For John and Jackie Kennedy, the death of a son may have brought them closer". The Washington Post.
- ^ Altman, Lawrence K. (July 29, 2013). "A Kennedy Baby's Life and Death". The New York Times. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
- ^ Groopman, Jerome (October 24, 2011). "A Child in Time". The New Yorker. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ^ "Cardinal Cushing Dies in Boston at 75". The New York Times. November 3, 1970. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
- ISBN 0743222210
- ISBN 0375504494
- ^ PMID 24107385.
- PMID 17494810. Retrieved December 10, 2013.
- PMID 18446178.
- ^ James, Susan Donaldson, "JFK Baby Death in 1963 Sparked Medical Race to Save Preemies". ABC News, August 7, 2013. Retrieved October 15 2017.
- PMID 21791934.
External links
- President John F. Kennedy on the Death of His Infant Son Patrick Bouvier Kennedy Shapell Manuscript Foundation