Q&A guest collapses

A guest panellist on ABC show QA collapsed on live television last night.

GetUp director Simon Sheikh slumped forward as panellists on the program discussed the carbon tax and climate change, with his head making an audible thud as it hit the desk.

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet cut himself off mid-sentence as he realised.

“I’m not quite sure what Simon is doing,” Mr Combet said.

“Is he okay? He’s not okay.”

He had been attempting to drink a glass of water just before collapsing, with speculation he may have suffered a seizure.

Mr Combet and members of the show’s crew rushed to his aid.

He regained a degree of consciousness and muttered a few words before staggering to his feet.

“I’m sorry, I passed out,” a groggy looking Mr Sheikh said before being helped backstage.

QA host Tony Jones said a few minutes later that Mr Sheikh had suffered a seizure and had been taken for a check-up.

Mr Sheikh’s wife was at the show and went with him to the hospital.

GetUp said in a statement that Mr Sheikh was taken to Liverpool Hospital and doctors had given him the all-clear.

But he was ordered to rest and recover from flu that he’s had for several weeks, GetUp said.

“We have a number of important campaigns we are working hard on at GetUp right now and perhaps like a lot of us, I have been burning the candle at both ends,” Mr Sheikh said in a statement.

Earlier, Mr Sheikh had taken to Twitter from his hospital bed.

“For those watching QA sorry I couldn’t stay – I’m in hospital, thanks for all your support,” he wrote.

Twitter users had suggested that Mr Sheikh struggled with a couple of his answers earlier in the program.

Twitter users also criticised opposition MP Sophie Mirabella for her apparent failure to react to Mr Sheikh’s collapse.

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