Diners gasped as PM fainted

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Diners gasped as PM fainted

3News NZ

Prime Minister John Key (file)

Prime Minister John Key (file)

Prime Minister John Key was due to touch down in Antarctica this evening, but he was lucky to even get away after fainting in a busy Christchurch restaurant.

Bad weather yesterday delayed the trip's departure until this morning, so the Prime Minister went out last night for a dinner at the popular Tutto Bene restaurant in Christchurch.

Chef Felice Mannucci says Mr Key and his party had been in the restaurant for some time before he fainted.

“After about two hours he got up from his chair, he comes around here and he fainted and he sat in this chair and people tried to help him,” he says.

The restaurant was full at the time and as Mr Key collapsed, diners gasped in shock.

“Everyone was very worried about it.”

According to Mr Mannucci the Prime Minister spent about five minutes sitting down recovering at the table before leaving with the help of others.

From the restaurant Mr Key was brought to the emergency department at Christchurch Hospital. Over about two hours he was seen by three specialists before being ticked off and sent home to bed.

This morning Tutto Benne received a text message from the Prime Minister's minder assuring the owners it wasn't their food, and was probably just jet lag.

“I was very relieved because I cooked his dinner, I was so worried I couldn't sleep all night,” Mr Mannucci says.

Despite the scare, the Prime Minister was given the all-clear to fly to Antarctica.

A United States Hercules took off from Christchurch around 9am and was due to land at McMurdo station around 6pm.

3 News

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Comments

25/01/2013 2:32:46 a.m.

marcus wrote:

Yet another National diversional tactic to take voters minds off the real issues at hand

23/01/2013 1:52:55 p.m.

M wrote:

Hope John Key is feeling better...can't be in all places at once; being PM is demanding of time and understandably can easily be worn out...would like to see the Labour commentators below "try" and be PM for a week, Labour or otherwise - the same job, and it's damn hard work.

21/01/2013 5:02:57 p.m.

tina wrote:

its a pitty hr recoverd because now the country wont recover.

21/01/2013 4:42:10 p.m.

tina wrote:

perhaps he had a vision of election night in 2015 and nationals landslide loss .sounded more like a tia or kind of stroke .

20/01/2013 8:46:58 p.m.

Kathy wrote:

I do agree with you Alison, this non event was reported four or five times by TV3 themselves alone in one day. Its a non event, yet they force it upon us. A rich man who spent three weeks overindulging in rich food and wine fainted from having too much of the good life. Its not really a story unless its written to show that nothing was wrong with Key other than his own self indulgent nature.

20/01/2013 1:14:01 p.m.

alison wrote:

@ kathy, I disagree. The story here is about how much news coverage is given to a faint, chasing the sympathy vote and pushing National into the media as much as possible with different takes on the same old story. Do the other political partys get the same amount of coverage? I think not. Just another example of the big national campaign in full push. I am referring to Diners gasp, and pm hosts dinner etc. As there are too many storys to recount.

19/01/2013 9:50:06 p.m.

Jacob Mansel wrote:

Kathy! He did say in the past about the Police have plenty of spare time on their hands.Just wondering if he thinks, the same about doctors?With the money he has got he should have gone to the after hours doctors,like they tell other people to do,as on the weekends and Friday nights the hospitals staff are rushed off their feet.Yes 99.9 percent of people dont get free holidays every month either.He has taken over Mulldoons record twice over for ,over seas trips.C MAR he has to head home yet?

19/01/2013 7:25:07 p.m.

cmar wrote:

This story really saddens me, because it has a happy ending.

19/01/2013 2:31:15 p.m.

jojo wrote:

@Clarky: what great work??? He's been sunning himself in HAWAII!!!!!!!!

19/01/2013 1:27:54 p.m.

Kathy wrote:

@Bukster, I agree that the story here is did the Prime Minister receive better and faster treatment than a normal member of the public would have. Did he or his minders abuse their position to push other sicker people out of line (because lets face it, over eating too much rich food and drinking too much wine is his own stupid fault). Has no one else noticed that Keys waisteline has expanded considerably since taking office. So TV3, find out the details for us, how long did he have to wait? is it common practice for patients attending the hospital to also get the attention of three highly trained specialists?. Overworked? lol he just finished a longer holiday than 99 percent of kiwis get.