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Sen. Edward Kennedy hospitalized this morning after suffering seizure
Mercury News wire services
May 17, 2008
U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy suffered a seizure this morning at the Kennedy compound in Hyannisport, Mass. and was flown to a Boston hospital for treatment. Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said it did not appear that Kennedy suffered a stroke as was initially suspected. She said the 76-year-old senator is undergoing tests at Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure.
The Cape Cod Times reported earlier that an ambulance was called to the compound about 8:30 a.m. after Kennedy fell ill. After being treated in the emergency room at the nearby hospital, he was flown to Boston.
Kennedy was in Hyannisport for the annual Best Buddies Challenge event in Hyannisport this afternoon, which is a fund-raiser for the organization, the newspaper reported.
Best Buddies was founded by Anthony Kennedy Shriver and helps people with intellectual disabilities. A concert is scheduled for this evening at the Kennedy compound.
Kennedy has represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate since 1962 when he was elected to finish the final two years of the Senate term of his brother, Senator John F. Kennedy, who was elected president in 1960.
Since then, Kennedy has been re-elected to seven full terms, and is now the second most senior member of the Senate.
In October, Kennedy had surgery to repair a nearly complete blockage in a major neck artery. The discovery was made during a routine examination of a decades-old back injury.
The hourlong procedure on his left carotid artery - a main supplier of blood to the face and brain - was performed at Massachusetts General. This type of operation is performed on more than 180,000 people a year to prevent a stroke.
The doctor who operated on Kennedy said at the time that surgery is reserved for those with more than 70 percent blockage, and Kennedy had "a very high-grade blockage."
Kennedy is the lone surviving son in a famed political family. His eldest brother, Joseph, was killed in a World War II airplane crash. President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother Robert was assassinated in 1968.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, beginning a tour of hospitals in Eugene, Ore., told reporters that he had been in touch with the senator's family. "Ted Kennedy is a giant in American political history. He's done more for health care than just about anybody in history. We are going to be routing for him. I insist on being optimistic about how it's going to turn out."
Kennedy gave Obama's presidential campaign a big boost this year with his endorsement and has campaigned actively for the Illinois senator.
This story includes reports from the Associated Press.
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