Joan Kennedy recuperates from concussion [Found in the street at 3AM]

AP ^ | March 30, 2005 | No one

[johnny7]

Joan Kennedy, Ex-Wife of Mass. Sen. Edward Kennedy, Recuperates From Concussion, Broken Shoulder

BOSTON Mar 30, 2005 — Joan Kennedy, the former wife of Massachusetts Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, is in the hospital recuperating from a concussion and a broken shoulder after a passer-by found her lying in a street, according to her son. Kennedy, 68, was taken to Tufts New England Medical Center about 3 a.m. Tuesday, said Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I. "We're indebted to some anonymous pedestrian who found her and picked her up and got her help," Patrick Kennedy told the Boston Herald for its Wednesday editions.

Details of exactly what happened and how she ended up in the street were unclear. There was no police report on the incident. Joan Kennedy, who divides her time between Cape Cod and a Boston condominium, has struggled with alcoholism. She spent time in a number of rehabilitation programs following arrests for drunken driving. The senator said Wednesday that he's proud of his children for their loyalty to his ex-wife. "This has been a sad time," he said. "We're hoping for the best." The couple had three children together Kara Kennedy Allen, 45, Edward M. Kennedy, Jr., 44, and Patrick Kennedy, 37 before divorcing in 1982.

The children recently took temporary guardianship of their mother to ensure she receives treatment for her alcoholism. Patrick Kennedy is seeking to become her permanent legal guardian. Joan Kennedy worked as an advocate for the mentally retarded and for cancer research and was a supporter of the Pine Street Inn, a Boston-based homeless shelter, and Children's Hospital.

[pepperhead]

Patrick Kennedy is seeking to become her permanent legal guardian.

Maybe he doesn't want Michael Schiavo to have all the fun.

[maggief]

Joan Kennedy pictured at an event last month.
(BostonHerald.com)

[Feiny]

She started drinking on her wedding night & never stopped.

[twigs]

Yes, that's the picture. A beautiful woman, wasn't she? The unhappiness on her face then has not changed in over 30 years, has it? A tragedy for families who are touched by the worst of the Kennedys.

[Mike Bates]

I have nothing but pity for this woman. Her biggest mistake was, IMHO, marrying Ted Kennedy. THAT might drive even me to drink!

[WL-law]

Joan, Kitty, Teresa - is there a spouse of an MA politician with national aspirations who does not have a drinking problem?

Hot-Bottom Barney Frank's spouse does NOT have a drinking problem!

[Feiny]

Is that photo real? It looks very wrong.

[maggief]

It's real...

Link:

http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=75697

[freeangel]

She seems to have pickled her brain(PVS?). Time to put her out of her misery and withold food and water.

[Ursus arctos horribilis]

Is there a time line on the drunken SCUBA diver's where abouts??

[maggief]

http://theedge.bostonherald.com/artsNews/view.bg?articleid=70678

Joan Kennedy, left, and Peggy Dray at the New England Conservatory's benefit 'A Feast of Music.'.

[followerofchrist]

If you had been married to TK, wouldn't you spend the rest of your life drunk? Give the poor traumatized lady a break!

[litehaus]

I sure all, who realise the true background facts, likewise feel and pity her. Her condition has a CAUSE that is known. I despise him...have since Mary Jo.

[Lazamataz]

BEFORE	AFTER

[hunter112]

All that proves was that she was an enabler. At least until he was done with her.

I can't feel sorry for anyone who has benefitted from the Kennedys' rape of America, even if they're no longer feeding directly from the trough.

[finnigan2]

"The senator said Wednesday that he's proud of his children for their loyalty to his ex-wife. "This has been a sad time," he said. "We're hoping for the best."

- It's my understanding that it was the senator's infidelities and cruel treatment of her that triggered her alcoholism. If it's been, "a sad time" he seems blissfully unaware of his role in this tragedy. I guess the kids, being Kennedys, keep their mouth shut about his guilt, knowing that a public statement will get them frozen out of the old man's will.

[twigs]

I don't think she benefitted at all from her marriage to a Kennedy. In fact, I think it destroyed her life. Some people are just not strong enough to stand up to the evil in the world. And to be married to a machine like Kennedys is especially difficult.

[hunter112]

I'm not saying it worked out in the end for her, but while the game was paying out, she was playing it.

What would have happened to Teddy-boy if she had had the stones to file for divorce from him as soon as he killed Kopechne? Would he have been re-elected to the US Senate? If he had not been, how much better off would this nation be today?

You have to see her role in these terms. Pretending to be a victim doesn't lessen the damage that she has enabled the Kennedys to wreak upon our country.

[2nRev_Patriot]

Agreed, nobody twisted her arm to join the elite Kennedy Kountry Klub. You play you pay, and as previously stated, a drunken loser by any other name, a victim in Massachusetts, go figure....

[Sabatier]

"Details of exactly what happened and how she ended up in the street were unclear."

What street? Makes a difference in Boston. Presumably her neighborhood but the story doesn't say.