Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described over a decade ago how a worm ate part of his brain and caused short term memory loss.
The 2024 longshot independent presidential candidate revealed the information during a 2012 divorce deposition unearthed by The New York Times and published on Wednesday.
At first, doctors thought RFK Jr.’s memory loss and mental fogginess was the result of a brain tumor after a dark spot showed up on his brain scans.
While packing for a surgery at Duke University Medical Center in 2010, Kennedy received a call from a doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital who believed the symptoms were a result of a dead parasite in his head.
Kennedy said at the deposition that the doctor believed the abnormality on his scans ‘was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died.’
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said in 2012 that he experienced short-term memory loss and brain fogginess after a worm ate part of his brain then died
The revelations were part of a 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings from Mary Richardson (left) where Kennedy claimed his earning power diminished due to cognitive struggles
At the time of revealing this information in a deposition, RFK Jr. was going through divorce proceedings with Mary Richardson and was arguing that his earning power was diminished due to cognitive struggles.
Kennedy was married to Richardson from 1994 to 2012. He is now now married to actress Cheryl Hines and running for president.
Kennedy, 70, prides himself on his athleticism and has on several occasions displayed his physical fitness online by posting shirtless videos of himself showing off his six pack abs and doing push ups and bench pressing.
While 70-years-old, RFK Jr. has a general ‘youth’ advantage over the two frontrunner candidates President Joe Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 77.
Biden in 2020 was the oldest person ever elected president – he beat Trump who set that record just four years prior.
RFK Jr. was running in the Democratic primary last year, but he switched tactics in October when he filed to run in November on an independent ticket instead.
He announced earlier this year that Nicole Shanahan, a 38-year-old attorney and Silicon Valley businesswoman, would join his ticket as his vice presidential candidate.
Kennedy insists he is not in the race to serve as spoiler for either Biden or Trump and instead thinks he has a real chance of becoming the first third-party candidate to clinch the White House. He has so far secured a place on the November ballots in Utah, Michigan and Hawaii. His campaign also claims he is on the ballot in California and Delaware.
RFK Jr., 70, often displays his physical fitness by posting shirtless videos of himself showing off his six pack abs and doing push ups and bench pressing
Around 1,000 Americans are hospitalized each year with parasitic brain infections – the vast majority of whom imported the infection from a foreign country.
One in six cases are in people with no travel history.
The most common form of infection is caused by a microscopic worm that lays its eggs in undercooked pork.
Once eaten, these eggs hatch inside the digestive system and the larvae travel through the bloodstream to other parts of the body, where they cause cysts to form.
These cysts trigger inflammation and, if they reach the brain, symptoms such as headaches, seizures, personality changes, and mental impairment.
Adult worms can live in people for decades and continue to lay eggs that cause health problems for the sufferer.