Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Autistic Man Keith Kennedy's Survival Story Won't Be Told


Keith Kennedy Transported On Stretcher
(AP Photo/Inter-County Leader, Priscilla Bauer)


AP reports that Keith Kennedy, who is autistic and is also a kidney transplant recipient, had only hours to live after being lost in the woods of Wisconsin for 7 days. Doctors say he is in stable and improving condition. How he survived is, and probably will remain, a mystery. Mr Kennedy has very limited language skills:

"How did he survive? He's a very lucky young man," said Dr. Timothy Whelan of the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview.

Even though he hadn't taken anti-rejection drug for a 1995 transplant since he disappeared, Whelan said he was optimistic that the kidney Kennedy received from his father would recover.

Bruce and Linda Kennedy also wonder how their son managed to survive a week in the woods without the skills to fend for himself.

They'll probably never know the answer because Keith Kennedy can speak only four words.

"We're not anticipating him communicating anything about this," Bruce Kennedy said. "He's never spoken in the past tense in his life."

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