AFP Hillary Clinton apparently fainted after leaving a 9/11 memorial event

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High-placed sources said the presidential hopeful breached Secret Service protocol by heading to her daughter's Manhattan flat rather than the closest hospital after suffering a fainting episode at a 9/11 memorial on Sunday. After apparently passing out and being bundled into a car the Democrat candidate was being rushed to Bellevue Hospital when her team ordered agents to make the detour.

It appears Mrs Clinton did not want to be treated by doctors outside of her close-knit inner circle because they would have had access to her medical history. And her campaign team made the unusual move over fears medical staff at Bellevue could leak details of her condition to the press, according to the New York Post.

REUTERS The Democrat candidate is suffering from pneumonia

GETTY Donald Trump has previously questioned his rival's health

A spokesman for Mrs Clinton disputed the claims, insisting she detoured to daughter Chelsea's flat because she was "feeling fine" and did not need to go to a hospital. But according to sources her team were so desperate to whisk her away from the prying eyes of the press at the 9/11 memorial event that they zoomed off without waiting for a mandatory NYPD escort. The former Secretary of State had told police officials she did not want the escort at all - perhaps to avoid drawing attention to her vehicle and where it was going - but the NYPD overruled her request. Deputy Commissioner John Miller said Mrs Clinton’s “early departure was transmitted in real time by the Secret Service to the NYPD”.

He added: “There was no lack of communication, nor diminution of security." Mrs Clinton left the 15th anniversary memorial of the 9/11 terror attacks at Ground Zero after around 90 minutes after feeling "overheated", according to her campaign team. Dramatic video then emerged of the Democrat nominee stumbling and apparently passing out whilst trying to get to her car, with her knees buckling before secret service agents bundled her onto the back seat of the vehicle. In one close-up shot, the 68-year-old's feet can apparently be seen dragging along the ground, suggesting that she had completely blacked out. After the footage was published Mrs Clinton's private physician, Dr Lisa Bardack, revealed she had been diagnosed with pneumonia three days earlier.

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