Hillary Clinton denies passing out after 9/11 memorial ceremony

Feeling unwell: Clinton left ceremonies commemorating the anniversary of the September 11 attacks becoming "overheated"
REUTERS
Hannah Al-Othman13 September 2016

Hillary Clinton has denied passing out when she took ill at a 9/11 memorial ceremony.

The Democratic presidential hopeful said she became dizzy and stumbled on her way out of the ceremony in New York on Sunday, but said she not lose consciousness.

Speaking in an interview on CNN, the 68-year-old said that she felt dizzy and "did lose my balance" while waiting to get in the motorcade, but said she felt immediately better after getting into her air-conditioned vehicle.

Footage from the event shows Mrs Clinton standing on a kerb near to Ground Zero, and suddenly appearing unable to stand.

She seems to nearly fall to the ground before she is caught by her staff, who who hold her up before helping her into the van.

When asked directly whether she had fainted, Mrs Clinton replied: "No, I didn't. I felt dizzy and I did lose my balance for a minute. But I got in, once I could sit down, once I could cool off, once I got some water, I immediately started feeling better."

Her campaign had earlier blamed "overheating" for the episode - with temperatures of 27C and low humidity in New York at the weekend.

Mrs Clinton admitted that she did not immediately reveal she had been diagnosed with pneumonia because she "just didn't think it was going to be that big a deal", and added that her doctor had told her to rest for five days, but she "didn't follow that very wise advice".

The Decocratic nominee, who has said she will be back on the campaign trail "in the next couple of days", reassured supporters via text message and Facebook.

She wrote: "I'm feeling fine and getting better... Like anyone who's ever been home sick from work, I'm just anxious to get back out there."

Mrs Clinton has cancelled a campagning trip to California, which was due to take place early this week. Her husband, former president Bill Clinton, is instead headlining some of her events.

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