JOE KENNEDY'S STROKE LEAVES HIM PERMANENTLY PARALYZED
Palm Beach, Florida (JFK+50) On December 19, 1961, Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr., father of President John F. Kennedy, suffered a massive stroke here in Palm Beach. The 73 year old former ambassador to the Court of St. James was rushed to St. Mary's Hospital where the stroke was diagnosed.
David Nasaw writes in "The Patriarch,"
"Joseph P. Kennedy had suffered an 'intracranial thrombosis,' a blood clot in the artery in the brain, which had triggered a massive stroke. The clot was inoperable."
The stroke left Joe Sr. paralyzed on the right side of his body and limited his speech to the single long, drawn out word "Nooooooooo."
Nasaw tells us that JPK was discharged from the hospital on January 8, 1962..."with no improvement in his paralysis" or ability to speak. Despite being unable to talk, however, Joe Sr. "appeared to understand everything that was said to him (and) everything he heard or saw."
SOURCES
"Ambassador In Spite of Himself." by Thomas Mallen, December 31, 2000
"New York times On the Web"
"Joseph P. Kennedy: A Portrait of the Founder," by Richard J. Whalan, Fortune Classics, 1963.
"The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy," by David Nasaw, The Penguin Press, New York, 2012.
JFK at St. Mary's Hospital
Palm Beach, Florida
December 1961
