SAD DAY FOR PRESIDENT & MRS. KENNEDY, BABY SON DIES AFTER 39 HOURS OF LIFE
Boston, Massachusetts (JFK+50) August 9, 1963 was a very sad day for President and Mrs. John F. Kennedy. Their infant son, Patrick, "died in the dark, pre-dawn hours...of hyaline membrane disease*."
The Evening Star reports that President Kennedy "stood only a few feet away when his son's heart failed." Pierre Salinger informed the press that "the struggle of the baby to keep breathing was too much for his heart."
Patrick Bouvier Kennedy, who was pronounced dead at 4:40 a.m. Boston time, lived only 39 hours and 12 minutes.
A funeral mass is scheduled for tomorrow morning at the private chapel of Richard Cardinal Cushing who will officiate the service. Burial is planned at Hollywood Cemetery in Brookline.
JFK+50 NOTE
Patrick died at the Children's Hospital Medical Center in Boston where he had been given specialized treatment after transfer from Otis Air Force Base.
*Hyaline membrane disease, aka infant respiratory distress syndrome, mostly affects premature babies as their lungs are not developed enough to provide the necessary surfactant to keep the small air sacs open.
SOURCE
"President's Baby Son Dies Of Breathing Impediment," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., August 9, 1963, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
