Ailing US Senator Edward Kennedy collapsed at an inaugural lunch for President Barack Obama today and was evacuated by medical staff, apparently suffering from convulsions, a congressional aide said.
Mr Kennedy, apparently suffering from convulsions, recovered somewhat by the time he was wheeled to an ambulance some minutes later, and several lawmakers said he was smiling and talking with them as he was taken to Washington Hospital Center.
"He's awake, he is talking, he is going to be fine," Rhode Island representative Patrick Kennedy, the ailing senator's son, was quoted as telling ABC News. A hospital spokeswoman said Kennedy was awake and answering questions as he was being assessed.
The collapse by one of the Senate's most respected members cast a pall over the celebrations, but within an hour Mr Obama was leading a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House, and the Senate was confirming several of his Cabinet nominees.
Mr Kennedy (76), was found to have a malignant brain tumor last May that required surgery. He missed much of the rest of the year in Congress, but returned to the Senate after Obama's election in November, determined to help the new president pass sweeping legislation to expand health care.
Mr Kennedy, brother of the late President John F. Kennedy, endorsed Obama's presidential bid last January, giving a crucial boost to a relative Washington newcomer from one of its most seasoned hands.
A Massachusetts senator since 1962, he is known for his full-throated support of liberal policies, his health-care expertise and his thick shock of silver hair.
Mr Obama, who shortly before had been sworn in as president in succession to George W. Bush, said in a speech at the lunch later that his prayers were with Kennedy and his family.
Mr Obama did not know what was happening when Kennedy took ill at a table during the traditional formal lunch in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. "When he found out he rushed out," said Senator Daniel Inouye, a Hawaii Democrat.
Mr Obama quickly returned to the lunch as Kennedy was taken away for treatment. The 200 lunch attendees, including former presidents, Cabinet nominees and other government officials, later said a prayer for Kennedy.
Another senator with medical problems, Democratic Senator Robert Byrd (91), of West Virginia, was sitting next to Mr Kennedy when the Massachusetts lawmaker suffered his apparent seizure, a Byrd aide said.
Mr Byrd himself did not suffer an attack but his security detail decided to remove him from the luncheon in his wheelchair, said the aide, Jesse Jacobs.
"We were having a wonderful time telling all our Byrd stories and Kennedy was telling some of the best, but then something happened and it all stopped," former vice president Walter Mondale told Fox News.
Reuters