Ted Kennedy rushed to hospital after suffering a double seizure

The 76-year-old senator was taken from the Kennedy clan's holiday compound in Hyannisport, Massachusetts, to Cape Cod Hospital before being transferred by helicopter to Boston.

He suffered his second seizure aboard the helicopter.

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Hospitalised: Senator Ted Kennedy suffered a double seizure

Kennedy, the youngest brother of assassinated President John F. Kennedy, was resting comfortably and was "not in any immediate danger", his doctor said yesterday.

Larry Ronan added: "Over the next couple of days, Senator Kennedy will undergo further evaluation to determine the cause of the seizure, and a course of treatment will be determined at that time."

Family members gathered at the hospital in Boston amid uncertainty over the veteran Democrat's condition.

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Among them were his three children and his nephew Joseph, eldest son of Robert Kennedy who was assassinated as he campaigned for the presidency in 1968.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, who had spoken to Kennedy's wife Vicki, said the senator "will be fine" and had "woken up fighting".

Kennedy is the second-longest serving member of the U.S. Senate and has been a vocal critic of President George Bush, particularly over Iraq.

He is a leading liberal voice who has campaigned for Barack Obama to be the Democratic nominee in the November presidential election.

"As I've said many times before, Ted Kennedy is a giant in American political history," said Obama.

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Kennedy, right, with Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama this year

"He's done more for the healthcare of others than just about anybody in history.

"We are going to be rooting for him and I insist on being optimistic about how it's going to turn out."

Hillary Clinton, Obama's rival for the Democratic nomination, wished Kennedy a quick recovery.

Kennedy entered the Senate in November 1962 to fill a seat earlier held by his older brother, then President John Kennedy, who was shot dead in Dallas the following year.

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Dynasty: Kennedy, left, with his tragic brothers Robert and John

He ran for president in 1980 but his White House ambitions had never recovered from Chappaquiddick, the July 1969 accident when his car plunged off a bridge on a Massachusetts island and a young woman with him, Mary Jo Kopechne, drowned.

Kennedy lost the 1980 party nomination to Jimmy Carter.

He is currently chairman of the Senate's committee on health, education, labour and pensions.