GetUp! director Simon Sheikh collapses during a live TV debate in Australia. Footage courtesy of YouTube/ThePrincessHira.
A man who blacked out during a live television debate in Australia was recovering from a bout of influenza when he collapsed.
GetUp! director Simon Sheikh slumped forward as panellists on ABC's Q&A program discussed carbon tax and climate change, with his head making an audible thud as it hitthe desk.
GetUp! said in a statement that Mr Sheikh was taken to Liverpool Hospital on Monday night 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.
Q&A host Tony Jones said a few minutes later that Mr Sheikh had suffered a seizure and had been taken for a checkup.
Mr Sheikh's wife was at the show and went with him to the hospital.
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.
On its website, GetUp! says it is an "independent, grass-roots community advocacy organisation which aims to build a more progressive Australia by giving everyday Australians the opportunity to get involved and hold politicians accountable on important issues".
