SCI Superstar: Senator Thomas P. Kennedy

After a spinal cord injury, we all find our own way of moving forward, and for Senator Thomas P. Kennedy his way forward was through politics. His hometown mayor recruited him after his injury, and this is where Sen. Kennedy found politics and a sense of purpose.

But he didn’t decide to get run as a candidate right way. He was happy to just help, learn and observe, but soon he was a State Representative in the House for his home state of Massachusetts, and he made disability history in the process. Read on to learn more about this tenacious politician from Massachusetts.

Why He Was Fearless

Sen. Tom P. Kennedy grew up in the city of Brockton, a historic ward south of Boston. Brockton is known as a city that creates tough individuals, from boxer Rocky Marciano to Rev. John Sheehan, O.M.I., a heroic missionary priest from World War II. Tom Kennedy was definitely one of these people.

An Irish descendant of WWI immigrants, he was raised in the Catholic faith on his family’s longtime homestead. He was planning on becoming a priest and was in seminary school at the time of his injury.

But at the age of 19 while studying to become a priest, he broke his neck in a window washing accident, becoming a C5 quadriplegic. Sadly he had to abandon his dream of becoming a priest since his fingers were paralyzed and it would be impossible for him to deliver the sacrament.

Tom was injured in 1971 and the medical world at the time kept people in the hospital for much longer periods. He was in and out of the hospital for over 3 years. After finally returning home to Brockton in 1973, one of the best things that could’ve happened occurred to him did – he found purpose. The newly elected mayor of his hometown, David Crosby, invited him to join his staff (Thomas’ family was friends with Crosby’s family) and the rest is history.

“It made me feel I was worth something to someone somewhere,” he said about the opportunity. “At that time, I wasn’t able to do anything. I could barely write my name.” Soon he envisioned himself in politics himself and in 1977 after campaigning door-to-door in his wheelchair, he was elected to the City Council of Brockton. And 5 years later, he won a state representative seat, which he held for over 25 years.

What Happened Next?

A Democrat known for supporting children and anti-drug legislation, he also worked hard to make Uber accessible in his hometown. He eventually become a State Senator of Massachusetts, serving from 2010 – 2015 for the 2nd Plymouth & Bristol Districts. He was one of the few quadriplegics in the world to hold such a high political office.

Sadly, Sen. Kennedy passed away while he was still a State Senator in 2015 from pneumonia. What he proved was possible for a quadriplegic in his time however, especially serving in a political office in some capacity for over 33 years, will never be forgotten. 

— Sen. Thomas Kennedy’s Facebook Page