Saoirse Kennedy Hill laid to rest, uncle RFK Jr says she went for a 'sunrise swim' the day she died
Saoirse Kennedy Hill, 22, was laid to rest Monday next to her aunt Mary Richardson Kennedy—the second wife of Saoirse's uncle Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—at Our Lady of Victory Church in the Centerville section of Barnstable, MA.
Saoirse is the granddaughter of assassinated Senator Robert F. Kennedy.
The family biographer J. Randy Taraborrelli said, "They’ve had so much tragedy in the family that it’s got to be hard for them to reconcile it all," reported PEOPLE.
Saoirse was discovered unresponsive at the Kennedy family compound on Thursday and was declared dead not too long after. As reported by multiple news outlets, she is suspected of having overdosed.
It has also been reported that, before Saoirse died, she had wanted to stay awake to see the dawn and go swimming in the closeby Atlantic Ocean as the sun rose over the water.
She swam alone and went to bed at around 6.30 am in the morning.
Given that she had a late night, no one went to check on her at noon.
A source shared, "When they finally went up, she was dead."
Her official cause of death hasn't been revealed as the toxicology report is awaited.
Saoirse had been very open about depression and the need to de-stigmatize talking about mental health.
In a 2016 article for her school newspaper at the elite Deerfield Academy, Saoirse wrote, "My depression took root in the beginning of my middle school years and will be with me for the rest of my life. Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest. People talk about cancer freely; why is it so difficult to discuss the effects of depression, [bipolar], anxiety, or schizophrenic disorders?"
"Just because the illness may not be outwardly visible doesn’t mean the person suffering from it isn’t struggling," she continued.
A friend of hers from Boston College, Bill Stone, recalled seeing her active on social media less than 12 hours before the news broke.
He also added that, despite her demons, she had a very positive attitude.