Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick passed out from dehydration in a Phoenix restaurant on Friday. She fell severely but did not suffer serious injuries, her staff said.
The incident happened while Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., Was walking from her Phoenix residence to the Match Market and downtown bar. According to a customer who saw this, she was about to go shopping for groceries when she fell. Kirkpatrick collapsed on the concrete floor, hit his head in the process.
She left the restaurant in an ambulance. The mishap comes when the valley is hit by unusually hot weather and temperatures approach 100 degrees earlier than usual.
“The Congresswoman said she was dehydrated this afternoon and was feeling much better and in a good mood,” said Abigail O’Brien, Kirkpatrick’s chief of staff. “After a long week at work, she looks forward to a few days off to celebrate Easter and is supposed to remind people to drink water.”
The accident happened after days of visits to their Tucson district, including a trip to the Mexican border.
Last month, Kirkpatrick announced that she would not seek a sixth term in Congress, alluding to the term limits she has advocated in the past. She claimed the decision had nothing to do with her health, although it had become increasingly a problem.
In January 2020, she fell on a subway train in the Washington area, breaking her spine and tearing her ribs while exiting the station.
Kirkpatrick later admitted that the accident resulted from her addiction to alcohol. She returned from counseling when the new coronavirus pandemic spread across the nation and quarantined her and other members of Congress.
Kirkpatrick, a member of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, has spent most of the past year voting in house voting and virtually attending hearings.
A spokesman for the restaurant could not be reached immediately to comment on the incident.
Reach reporter Ronald J. Hansen at [email protected] or 602-444-4493. Follow him on Twitter @ronaldjhansen.
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