Photo: Amber M. McCloskey/The Herald/AP
James “Radio” Kennedy, a man with mental disabilities who became a beloved icon to a South Carolina high school football team, has died, the high school confirmed. He was 73.
“He became a fixture at football practices, standing passively and watching, until one day when he began to mimic the coaches’ signals and tried his hand at yelling out commands,” Hilton wrote. “At that point, he could have been labeled a distraction and sent away. But he was not. The coaches embraced him, and as coaches came and went, someone would always take over in caring for him.”
Students, faculty, coaches and the community around T.L. Hanna High School in Anderson all grew to know and love Kennedy, who became the number one fan of the school’s football team.
Kennedy was also given permanent status as an 11th-grade student at the school, so he would never have to graduate and leave.
“Everyone has a story to tell, some of them priceless — his eating a cooler full of sandwiches that had been made for the team and stored safely on the bus; his pass-kick-and-throw half-time shows; his permanent status as a junior, with no threat of graduation; and his astounding ability to name the mascot of any team in the state,” Hilton wrote. “The stories could fill the pages of a lengthy book, each showing the child-like innocence and loving heart that existed within him.”
“Sometimes God sends us inspiration in the human form… James Robert ‘Radio’ Kennedy was and will always be the wings to that inspiration. I will love and miss him always,” the actor told PEOPLE in a statement.
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Hilton wrote that Kennedy’s story contains “a lesson of which all of us need to be reminded,” that “love and compassion can change lives.”
“The thousands of students who have made their way through the halls of T. L. Hanna over the years have seen the results of the love and caring given to Radio,” Hilton continued. “He had a permanent smile on his face. He was never without his ability to shake hands and hug necks. He returned exponentially whatever love was given to him.”
source: people.com
