GetUp! director Simon Sheikh fainted during a live broadcast on tonight’s episode of Q & A.
Sheikh slumped to the desk around 15 minutes into the broadcast, while the panel didn’t realise what was taking place.
ALP minister Greg Combet came to his aid as ABC crew scrambled to assist.
He quickly regained consciousness, saying ”sorry, I just fainted”, before being escorted from the panel.
Throughout the show host Tony Jones provided updates that Sheikh was taken to hospital and was doing well.
UPDATE: “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,” Sheikh said today.
Today a spokesperson for Sophie Mirabella said that the Coalition MP did not realise that Mr. Sheikh needed help. “She was in shock,” the spokesperson said. “She was unaware at the time that it was a medical emergency.”
Fairfax journalist Lenore Taylor was also on the panel and said it was not “immediately obvious” that Mr Sheikh was unwell.
Since realising Mr Sheikh was ill, Ms Mirabella has contacted the campaigner to wish him a speedy recovery.
Source: The Age
Hmmmm, what some people have said about Ms. Mirabella’s reactionsays more about them than it does about her
I never had a high opinion of Mirabella before the show, after the show…even less so.
I have to agree with ausriley26…I do not know the either of the people being spoken about…but I did watch the show…and the woman was turned to the other side of the desk listening to the person speaking…when she turned …she appeared to me to be quite shocked…and did reach out to steady him…
I think everyone should ease up on Sophie Mirabella. Everyone reacts differently when confronted with a real-life medical emergency and you don’t know how you will react until you have to.
If I apply the same standards as all the lefties in here, that Tony Jones is a pretty heartless chap….
When it comes to Get Up, you could almost expect it to be a stunt. However, Sophie Mirabella’s reaction was clearly shock and Simon Sheikh was having a medical emergency. She is doing what unfortunately a lot of people do in such situations due to lack of training in first aid. The first thing is to at least ask if the person is okay.
I don’t think she was in the wrong, she just didnt know what was going on, As i said it looked like he was showing the climate minister that he was bored of him talking. I’m sure everyone thought that at first, cause there were a good few seconds while he was going down and nobody did anything
I watched the clip without having read the comments below and immediately thought her behaviour questionable at best.
I have no preconceived notions about Sophie and it’s obvious that many of the more disparaging comments about her are politically motivated, but to me she does not react in a caring, sympathetic or “human” way to the person in distress beside her.
So, sorry to take sides David, but if something walks, talks and acts like a duck it’s probably a duck.
Here, circumstantially at least, Sophie is a duck.
@David, I think you’re being unbelievably fair minded regarding Ms Mirabella’s sneering inaction. I really think most people have it in them to react from the gut when a person is in distress or at the scene of an accident, and act accordingly. Some just don’t.
I think it’s safe to say that this has been a heavily politicize issue.
I disagree that we can read too much into her character from ten seconds of shock on live tv.
Im sure if it was just her she would have helped after realising what had happened but everybody else rushed over.
Clearly this has divided opinions….
Completely agree with OzJay. Her reaction speaks volumes about her, just like Combet does him.
I am at the opposite end of politics to Sophie but i think it very unfair, cheap and lazy to attack her in this way. When i watched it live, it was hard to tell if he hard a heart attack, fainted or was just mucking around. If you watch it closely you will see that it took all on the panel several seconds to really realize what had occurred. All were in a state of confused shock.
Greg Combet left his chair and crossed to the other side of the desk to see if there was something he could do. Tony Jones was concerned to see that SS was being attended to before proceeding with the program. Mirabella’s expression says: “Will someone please remove this unfortunate man making a spectacle of himself?!”
Lay off Mirabella. I would have probably done the same. I don’t agree with her politics at all but attacking her for this is stupid.
A hand on the back is probably all I oculd offer without getting in the way of people who knew how to deal with the situation properly.
seriously David. i can’t believe you just wrote that. She did absolutely nothing and showed us as much. Even in shock one can still comprehend what is happening, especially in this instance, and show some emotion whether it be muted or not. She failed on all counts.
Personally I think it’s unfair to conclude too much about Sophie Mirabella in this situation. It’s easy to sit back on the couch and pass judgement but when you’re on live TV and you’re in the zone and something unusual happens right beside you it can take a moment to grasp what’s going on. I think all she showed us was that she pulled back because she didn’t realise what was happening.
To be fair to Sophie – this is standard behaviour for coalition politicians.
Simon should be thankful that he wasn’t gay or an asylum seeker because Sophie would have sprinted away faster than Ussain Bolt!
Now watch how Michelle Grattan, Andrew Bolt and Alan Jones handle this story.
I am betting they will be very sympathetic towards poor little ol’ Sophie.
And just watch Sophie employ Sarah Palin ‘I’m the real victim here’ tactics to defend herself.
Was pretty scary to watch live!
That was actually pretty fast how everyone responded to Simon. This could explain why moments earlier on he was a little confused and tongue tied. I was quite amazed how professional the were at Q&A and quickly tried to resume the program after something quite shocking. Credit to the Q&A team and glad to hear Simion is ok.
Says a lot about people’s compassion to their fellow man.
OMG just who does she think she is, how un caring and unfeeling is this woman ?
Pt 2 – no fan of Sophie, but i don’t judge anybody’s reaction to something as unexpected and dramatic as that occurring. Tony and his producers did the right thing and update viewers and the audience on Simon’s situation. I wish him well.
It was a very distressing moment of live tv i sincerely hope that Simon is doing ok – he is a great contributor to any panel he joins. It was a tough few minutes for all in the room and the 600,000 or so people watching. I am no fan of Sophie, but i don’t judge anybody’s reaction to something as unexpected and dramatic as that occurring. Tony and his producers did the right thing and update viewers and the audience on Simon’s situation. I wish him well.
Mental note: Hope you don’t have a heart attack or need any type of medical assistance if you are sitting next to Sophie Mirabella. Her look of disdain and edging away from a person in obvious need of assistance was poor form. Sure, she may have thought it was a ploy or a gag, but sometimes you need to put humanity over politics and lend assistance….
Thought he was being sarcastic when climate minister started talking this guy started to snore and then looked like he went to sleep.
I’m a swinging voter but I’ll tell you now a large portion of the current liberal party seem as cold and useless as Sophie Mirabella did when Simon Sheikh fainted.
Btw great debate tonight, Mirabella was made look such a hypocrite.
Sophie Mirabella looks like an asylum seeker has just landed next to her, and shows about the same sympathy!
Wouldn’t like to collapse next to Sophie Mirabella..She never came to Simon’s aid at all..very telling about her as a person
Who’s that despicable lady sitting next to him giving him a dirty look?