Hillary Clinton Was 'Dead-Set' on Attending 9/11 Ceremony Despite Pneumonia Because She Was There in 2001, Spokesman Says

Nothing was going to keep Hillary Clinton away from a 9/11 memorial service in New York City on Sunday – not even the pneumonia diagnosis she received on Friday.

Clinton, a senator from New York at the time of the 9/11 attacks in 2001, helped with recovery efforts and became a champion of first responders in the wake of the tragedy. Her campaign spokesman Brian Fallon told MSNBC on Monday that it "meant a great deal" to the Democratic nominee to attend Sunday's memorial service marking the 15th anniversary of the attacks.

"The Secretary, even after having been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday, kept her full schedule on Friday and was dead-set on attending that 9/11 ceremony on Sunday morning," Fallon said. "She, of course, was senator when 9/11 happened and it meant a great deal to her to be there."

After Clinton fell ill during the memorial service and was forced to leave early, her doctor revealed in a statement later that day that the former secretary of state had been diagnosed with pneumonia on Friday. Clinton's campaign was criticized for not disclosing her health issue earlier, and Fallon acknowledged on Monday that, "In retrospect, we could have handled it better in terms of providing more information more quickly."



"In those 90 minutes, we were putting a priority on making sure she was okay," Fallon explained. "As soon as she got into the vehicle, she was alert the whole time, and was telling staff that she was fine. She was actually making calls to aides from the car and she ended up going to her daughter Chelsea's apartment which was pretty close by in Manhattan. And for the aides that were there with her, they could tell you that she was chasing her granddaughter around the apartment."

Fallon emphasized that Clinton left the service "on her own accord" and never lost consciousness. As she was leaving, "she got a bit dizzy and was helped into the vehicle," he said. "But immediately upon being seated there, she was talking to staff and making calls. And she was up running around at her daughter’s apartment, chasing her granddaughter around and then, within 90 minutes, people saw her out on the sidewalk."

Clinton's "stamina" to be president has been called into question in recent weeks by GOP nominee Donald Trump and other critics, but a campaign official tells PEOPLE that while Clinton is taking two days off at home in Chappaqua, New York, she was on the phone Monday morning making calls and would be phoning in her speech to a California fundraiser Monday evening. "She's determined to power through it," says the official.

Fallon added of Clinton's planned campaign trip to the Golden State, which a spokesman announced Sunday had been canceled, "If it was up to her she'd be traveling to California today. But it was her doctor's advice for her to change her schedule."

Fallon also promised that the campaign would this week release additional medical records that will "further put to rest any lingering concerns." "There is no other undisclosed condition," he said. "The pneumonia is the extent of it."

Fallon added that he expects Clinton to be back on the campaign trail by the middle or end of this week.

"This is the Hillary Clinton that Americans got to know as secretary of state," he said. "Somebody who keeps a breakneck pace, traveled the globe. She's indefatigable."