Hillary Clinton was forced to leave a 9/11 commemoration ceremony in New York early on Sunday after suffering from a “medical episode,” a law enforcement official who witnessed the episode from “15 feet away” confirmed to Fox News.

The Clinton camp initially downplayed the incident. A statement from Clinton aide Nick Merrill said the candidate was “overheated” and felt “much better” after cooling down at Chelsea Clinton’s nearby home.

The diagnosis for the serious respiratory illness begs the question … why the pneumonia diagnosis had not been publicly disclosed earlier than Sunday.

A later statement from Clinton’s doctor said the Democratic nominee had been diagnosed with pneumonia.

“Secretary Clinton has been experiencing a cough related to allergies,” said Dr. Lisa R. Bardack in the Sunday afternoon statement. “On Friday, during follow up evaluation of her prolonged cough, she was diagnosed with pneumonia. She was put on antibiotics, and advised to rest and modify her schedule. While at this morning’s event, she became overheated and dehydrated. I have just examined her and she is now re-hydrated and recovering nicely.”

The diagnosis for the serious respiratory illness begs the question how Clinton was feeling “much better” immediately after the collapse or why the pneumonia diagnosis had not been publicly disclosed earlier than Sunday.
[lz_jwplayer video=tGnvCF69]
This is just the latest in a series of incidents in which Clinton’s health has appeared compromised. She suffered a series of coughing fits just last week, one aboard her campaign plane; she has suffered from spasm-like episodes; she needed to be helped up the stairs by aides, as a photo released a month ago revealed; and she suffered a concussion in 2012 after fainting, falling and hitting her head.

On Sunday morning, Clinton appeared to faint while on her way into her van and required assistance from her security team to enter the vehicle, the source said, adding she was “clearly having some type of medical episode.” Another witness told Fox News that Clinton stumbled on the curb as her “knees buckled,” adding her shoe fell off as she was helped into the van for her “unexpected early departure.” A law enforcement official said Clinton left the event early because she was feeling unwell.

[lz_third_party align=center includes=https://twitter.com/zgazda66/status/774993814025011200 align=right width=530]

This troubling “medical episode” has dealt the Clinton campaign a severe blow as it attempts to prevent “conspiracy theories” and speculation from swirling about her health. Since the state of her health has been an “off-limits” topic for the media at large during the course of the election season, this “medical episode” will give the Clinton campaign a considerable migraine.

It was also just the latest in a series of episodes Clinton has suffered.

This “episode” — which occurred at a ceremony in Lower Manhattan attended by rival Donald Trump, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and his predecessors, Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani — offers new credence to the challenge Trump leveled at her, asking for her to release detailed medical records.

Who do you think would win the Presidency?

By completing the poll, you agree to receive emails from LifeZette, occasional offers from our partners and that you've read and agree to our privacy policy and legal statement.

“I think that both candidates, Crooked Hillary and myself, should release detailed medical records,” Trump tweeted Aug. 28. “I have no problem in doing so! Hillary?”

Related: Hillary’s Health Concerns Serious

Concerns regarding Clinton’s health began to mount after she suffered several severe bouts of coughing fits during hearings and campaign speeches. When photos from earlier on in the presidential campaign resurfaced in August showing Clinton being hoisted up a middling flight of stairs by others, conservative media outlets pounced on the story, as the liberal media scoffed. Lingering health concerns also persist concerning the effects of a brain injury that resulted from a fall in 2012 may pose for Clinton.

Even nearly 71 percent of doctors from the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) who were polled in a survey in September believe concerns about Clinton’s health are “serious” and “could be disqualifying for the position of president of the U.S.” And while only 2.7 percent polled said there had been “too much emphasis” on Clinton’s health, more than 78 percent said the health concerns had not received “enough emphasis” in the media. And for those views, the doctors were demonized.

[lz_related_box id=”196904″]

Throughout it all, the media at large has rejected treating Clinton’s health scares seriously. They’ve swept them under the rug or retaliated by targeting Trump instead, as a weak distraction and deflection tactic.

And anyone who questions “Ill-Ary’s” health issues suffers the consequences. CNN announced it would be canceling celebrity doctor Dr. Drew Pinsky’s show “Dr. Drew on Call” just days after he expressed concern about Clinton’s health in late August.

“It just seems like she’s getting care from somebody that she met in Arkansas when she was a kid, and you’ve got to wonder,” Pinsky said on radio when asked about Clinton’s health. “You’ve got to wonder. It’s not so much that her health is a grave concern. It’s that the care she’s getting could make it a concern.”

If not this morning’s episode, then what will it take for the rest of the media to finally — and responsibly — cover Clinton’s health?