The moment Obama catches pregnant woman as she faints behind him during healthcare speech and jokes, 'that's what happens when I talk too long'



Prospective Affordable Care Act beneficiary Karmel Allison became wobbly towards the end of Mr Obama's 25 minute speech at the White House today

Just in time, the President turned around and caught her before she fainted

'I got you. You're OK,' Mr Obama told her and made a joke that he had been speaking too long

Allison was invited to the event because she is a long-time diabetes sufferer who has struggled to find affordable healthcare until the ACA

She later tweeted: 'I'm ok world- just got a little lightheaded.Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me'



She told CNN dehydration may have caused the turn because she had tried not to drink before the speech so she wouldn't need to bathroom



President Barack Obama caught a pregnant woman who began to faint during his speech about healthcare reforms today and then joked: 'That's what happens when I talk too long.'

Mr Obama reached out to help prospective Affordable Care Act beneficiary Karmel Allison who was standing directly behind him as he discussed the glitches of the new healthcare website in the Rose Garden of the White House.



Around 25 minutes into the speech, Ms Allison became unsteady and started to lose consciousness but the President, and other attendees, turned around and grabbed her before she fainted.

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Health scare: President Barack Obama reaches out to help Prospective ACA Beneficiary Karmel Allison, center, who began to faint during the president's speech about healthcare today

Shaky: Allison, in red, looks visibly woozy as she grips the hand of the woman next to her and the President dives to help her during an event in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, on Monday

Diabetes: Allison, center, was invited to the event because she has suffered diabetes since age 9 and struggled to get affordable health cover

'I got you. You're OK,' Mr Obama told her. The woman was escorted away for medical assistance as the crowd applauded Mr Obama's quick reaction.

Ms Allison later tweeted: 'I'm ok world- just got a little lightheaded.Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me! And good thing this pregnant diabetic is pregnant :)'

I'm ok world- just got a little lightheaded.Thanks, @BarackObama for catching me! And good thing this pregnant diabetic is pregnant :) — Karmel Allison (@karmel_a) October 21, 2013





Her husband, David Allison, tweeted his thanks to Mr Obama then in a follow up said he had wanted to go to his wife's aid but thought better of it, fearing the Secret Service may get confused if he started bolting towards the podium.

.@BarackObama thank you so much for catching my wife, @karmel_a when she fainted on stage. American Diabetes Association thanks you! — David Allison (@david_allison) October 21, 2013





@aaronprill @karmel_a I almost bolted to the stage but thought twice about how that would look to the Secret Service. So glad she's ok. — David Allison (@david_allison) October 21, 2013



Ms Allison was invited to the event at the White House because she has suffered Type 1 Diabetes since she was nine years old and has always struggled to find affordable healthcare.

She said she was lucky to have insurance already when she was diagnosed and stayed on the same plan, despite constantly rising costs, because she was scared another insurer would reject her due to her pre-existing condition.



She said she recently began researching her options on CoveredCA and was elated to find she could now qualify for low-cost insurance despite her diabetes. She said she finally feels equal to others, including her healthy husband, when it comes to accessing coverage.

A few hours after her turn, she told CNN she was 'feeling much better' and that she thought dehydration may have caused her to feel lightheaded during the event.

'I'm 20 weeks pregnant at this point and I hadn't had that much to drink that morning because I was worried about possibly needing to go to the bathroom during the speech,' she said in a phone interview. 'And as the sun hit me, I got a little lightheaded.'

Ms Allison said she was treated by the White House physician.



'Now I get to say that ACA got me care by the White House medical professional,' she joked.

Before the hammer fell: In a Rose Garden speech, just the pictured pregnant woman famously fell, Obama called Sanford's story, which she emailed to the White House, 'what the Affordable Care Act is all about'

Just in time: The President turns around and catches Allison just as she's about to faint, and the man standing behind her grabs her shoulders

Help: Allison is then escorted away. She later tweeted that she was feeling OK now and thanked Mr Obama

Ms Allison, who represented the American Diabetes Association, said she was honored to attend the event.

'It was an honor to be there and I'm rather sorry I fainted in the middle of the speech, but I was really happy to be able to be on stage at that moment,' she told CNN.



According to a biography on website A Sweet Life , to which she contributes as science editor, Ms Allison was born in Southern California, and went to UC Berkeley graduating in 2006 with a B.A. in Linguistics.

She now lives with her husband in San Diego where she works in computational biology at the University of California. Michael is chief technology officer and co-founder at Nulu and founder and chief technology officer at Minute7.com. The couple also have a computer company, Arcaio Inc.



She writes in her biography that she 'is loving the sunshine (in San Deigo) ... and learning to use the active voice when talking about her diabetes.'

In her spare time, she says she enjoys 'people, Milan Kundera, rock climbing, and the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.'



However, it didn't take long before skeptics started suggesting the health scare was a fake and Ms Allison was planted there by the Obama administration.



FAINTING WOMEN IS B.S. @BarackObama NOBODY THINKS YOU'RE A ROCKSTAR ANYMORE. SURELY NO HERO. #Benghazi GET OVER YOURSELF. #tcot — Richard Davis #USMC (@NoGunsNoGlory) October 21, 2013





Conspiracy Fun: The woman fainting behind Obama today does kinda seem fake. Why did lady to her right tap her? http://t.co/osgWohVxA1 — Dave Rubin (@RubinReport) October 21, 2013





Man! I loved the fainting woman at St. Obama's Rose Garden ScamCare Speech today. That was classic. Beyond fake. You have got to YouTube it! — Millsy (@MillsTheKodiak) October 21, 2013





OOPS! Obama should ask his Hollywood friends for acting & timing tips! FAKE - Woman Nearly Faints as Obama Rambles On http://t.co/JzIhW3hFDB — TheyreOutofControl (@DefundDC) October 21, 2013





But her husband insisted the near-collapse was no fake.

I can assure you all that @karmel_a isn't a plant, just a diabetes researcher with a keen interest in and admiration for the ACA :) — David Allison (@david_allison) October 21, 2013





Ms Allison became dizzy towards the end of a defiant speech during which Mr Obama said he was mad about problems with the new health care website, but argued that the Affordable Care Act as a whole is working as planned.

While Healthcare.gov 'hasn't worked as smoothly as it was supposed to work,' Obama said during the White House speech that once-uninsured Americans have signed up for coverage and are receiving benefits, 'The product -- the health insurance -- is good,' Mr Obama said.



'The prices are good. It is a good deal.'

Feeling better: Ms Allison, pictured here in 2012, has suffered diabetes since she was 9 and is a major advocate of the ACA

Couple: Her husband Michael Allison, pictured with her, tweeted that he almost went to her aid on stage but thought the Secret Service might get confused

Facing attacks from Republicans and other critics of Obamacare, the president said his health care team is reaching out to tech experts to help fix massive website problems that have hampered the rollout of his landmark piece of legislation.

'Nobody's madder than me about the fact that the website isn't working as well as it should,' Mr Obama said, 'which means it's going to get fixed.'

Aside from the website, Mr Obama said the new health care law is providing consumer protections and benefits for millions of Americans, including mammograms and birth control services. He told stories of now-covered Americans who had once been denied insurance because of pre-existing conditions.

'The essence of the law, the health insurance that's available to people, is working just fine,' Mr Obama said.

Before the drama: Prospective ACA Beneficiary Karmel Allison, pictured left, was listening to the President's speech before she began to lose consciousness

Guest: Karmel Allison, in red dress, was invited to the event because she has struggled to get affordable healthcare in the past due to her diabetes







