2. The Back Brace Probably Cost Him His Life
President Kennedy suffered from health problems for much of his life. As a child, his own mother described him as a very, very sick little boy. His health was so poor that he came close to death on a number of occasions, in fact, he received the last rites four times during his life, finally in 1963 after being shot in the head by Lee Harvey Oswald. During Word War Two, Kennedy survived the sinking of PT-109, an incident which exasperated a pre-existing back injury, forcing him to wear a brace in order to cope with the searing pain. Sadly, it was this brace that could ultimately have cost him his life, according to
the doctor who treated his wound at Parkland Hospital in Dallas. Had he not been wearing a brace, Oswald's first bullet, the one that passed through Kennedy's neck, would likely have doubled him over, causing the final, fatal headshot to miss its target. Unfortunately, Kennedy remained seated upright after being hit for the first time, allowing for the second bullet to find its mark seconds later.