(Dmytro “Henry” Aleksandrov, Headline USA) It was revealed that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed in a decade-old deposition that a worm ate part of his brain before dying inside his head.

A now 70-year-old RFK Jr. said that during his 2012 divorce proceeding, detailing “cognitive problems” he initially feared were a brain tumor — only for a second doctor to tell him the dark spot on his scans was a dead parasite, the New York Post reported.

Before he got a second opinion, RFK Jr. was supposed to undergo surgery at Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina by the same doctor who operated on his uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D–Mass., who died of brain cancer in 2009.

However, after visiting a doctor at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, RFK Jr. was told that the abnormality “was caused by a worm that got into [his] brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” according to the transcribed interview.

Even though he did not know when he may have contracted the parasite, RFK Jr. suggested it might have happened during an earlier trip to South Asia. The news source reported that the parasite was likely a pork tapeworm larva, which has been known to cause seizures, headaches and dizziness when they start to die, according to doctors.

During the 2012 deposition, RFK Jr. also said that he suffered from mercury poisoning after eating too many tuna fish sandwiches, which was probably the actual cause of Kennedy’s neurological issues, one of the doctors said.

“I have cognitive problems, clearly. I have short-term memory loss, and I have longer-term memory loss that affects me,” RFK Jr. said at the time, admitting that his diet was probably the cause of his health issues.

The politician also stated he suffered from “severe brain fog” and had trouble retrieving words around the same time that his mercury levels were 10 times what the Environmental Protection Agency considers safe, the news source reported.

RFK Jr. then said he made several changes following the two health scares, including getting more sleep, traveling less and consuming less fish.