It hasn’t been an easy week for One Nation leader Pauline Hanson after suffering a tick bite and then being rushed to hospital for emergency surgery, but the politician has promised fans she will be fighting fit when the election comes around.
The 64-year-old was rushed to hospital on Tuesday for an operation after suffering from “extraordinary” pains in her stomach.
Hanson said she became extremely unwell over the weekend but did not seek medical help until Tuesday when her GP advised her to go “immediately to hospital” for further scans and blood tests.
She was kept in and underwent surgery to remove her appendix. The Queensland Senator revealed the news on social media a day later as she shared a photograph which showed her wearing a hospital gown and hooked up to various machines.
Since then Hanson has kept followers up to date, posting a number of replies about her condition on Facebook. The Australian pollie took the opportunity to thank hospital staff for their care during the stressful time, explaining how precious life really is. She even said she has enjoyed a few laughs with those taking care of her.
“I have had the best of care Grant,” she replied to a concerned Aussie. “Everyone from the nurses, doctors, admin and those who bring my food and clean my room have been wonderful.
“I told the nurses I couldn’t do their job they are very special people. They tell me they couldn’t do mine and we have a laugh. Very grateful of everyone’s care of me in my present condition.
She added: “You realise how helpless you really are when you don’t have your health.”
Although in tremendous pain lately, Hanson claimed she will pull through and is ready to get back on her feet in the lead up to the election.
“From the tick to this, it’s been a tough week,” she commented. “It won’t keep me down for long though Mick.”
Elsewhere she described the surgery and wrote: “It’s the equivalent of a quick service before a long road trip. I’ll be in fine form before the election is called.”
The news of Pauline’s hospitalisation came just one week after she was left “unrecognisable” after being bitten on her face by a tick. She revealed the gruesome bite during a press conference on Thursday last week, where she addressed the media for the first time since an explosive two-part Al Jazeera documentary aired on the ABC.
Featuring hidden camera footage, How To Sell a Massacre showed One Nation Chief of Staff James Ashby and Queensland Leader Steve Dickson appearing to lobby the National Rifle Association of America for cash, which they have both since denied.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with the pair, Hanson vowed to stick by them, describing the Al Jazeera investigation as a “false story” and claiming that Dickson and Ashby were “stitched up”.
“This is a political attack by Al Jazeera in cooperation with the ABC,” she said at the time. “If ABC had any ethical bone in their body they would refuse to put this unfair and unbalanced story to air tonight.”