Kirkpatrick collapses in Phoenix restaurant

Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick fainted from dehydration at a Phoenix restaurant on Friday, falling hard, but not sustaining any serious injuries, her staff said.

The incident happened as Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., walked from her residence in Phoenix to Match Market and Bar in downtown. She was about to purchase food when she fell, according to a customer who saw it happen. Kirkpatrick collapsed on the concrete floor and struck her head in the process.

She left the restaurant in an ambulance. The mishap comes as the Valley is in the grips of unseasonably hot weather, with temperatures approaching 100 degrees earlier than usual.

“The congresswoman said she was dehydrated this afternoon and is feeling much better and in good spirits,” said Abigail O’Brien, Kirkpatrick’s chief of staff. “After a long work week, she looks forward to a couple days off to celebrate Easter and said to remind people to drink water.”

The accident came after days of visits across her Tucson-based district, including a trip to the border with Mexico.

Last month, Kirkpatrick announced she will not seek a sixth term in Congress, in a nod to the term limits she has advocated in the past.

She maintained the decision had nothing to do with her health, though it has increasingly become an area of concern.

In January 2020, she fell at a Washington-area subway and fractured her spine and cracked her ribs while exiting the station.

Kirkpatrick later acknowledged that the accident grew out of her dependence on alcohol. She returned from counseling just as the new coronavirus pandemic swept across the nation, sending her and other members of Congress into quarantine.