In brief
In a poignant essay published in The New Yorker, Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of JFK, announced her diagnosis of aggressive acute myeloid leukaemia and was given less than a year to live. Schlossberg, who is also a climate journalist and mother of two, shares her feelings about her health struggles, family legacy, and the challenges posed by political dynamics within her family. Amidst her fight against cancer, she expresses distress over her cousin's appointment as health secretary, causing concern for the healthcare system she relies on.
The granddaughter of former US President John F Kennedy Jr has announced her diagnosis with an aggressive form of cancer, with the 35-year-old saying she has been given less than a year to live.
Tatiana Schlossberg, the daughter of former US Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, shared the news in an essay published in The New Yorker on Saturday - the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather's assassination.
The mother of two, Tatiana, has been an outspoken opponent of her relative Robert F Kennedy Jr's position as US health secretary under President Donald Trump.
In her essay, Schlossberg describes her alarm at watching her second cousin be approved to the post as she was battling her illness.
According to Schlossberg's essay - titled 'A Battle With My Blood' - she was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia after giving birth in May 2024.
She details her previously healthy lifestyle, including activities like running, skiing, and swimming in New York's Hudson River to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Despite treatment, including a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy, she says doctors have told her the outcome does not look good. 'During the latest clinical trial, my doctor told me that he could keep me alive for a year, maybe,' she writes.
Schlossberg reflects on her fears about her children not remembering her, saying, 'My first thought was that my kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn't remember me.' Her son was born in 2022 and her daughter in 2024.
She also shares her concerns about her mother, who has already faced significant loss, and how her illness adds another tragedy to their family's life.
Expressing her frustrations about her cousin's political rise, she wrote, 'I watched from my hospital bed as Bobby, in the face of logic and common sense, was confirmed for the position, despite never having worked in medicine, public health, or the government.'
This news has impacted the legacy of the Kennedy family, a name steeped in American political history and personal tragedy.
