Constituents thank God for Manning

Former prime minister Patrick Manning stood for more than an hour yesterday as members of his San Fernando East Constituency Office held a special thanksgiving ceremony for him. Manning, who spent Thursday night at the San Fernando General Hospital after suffering another seizure, walked into the National Academy for Performing Arts’ (Napa) south campus at San Fernando unaided by his cane.

He was escorted by his wife and former Education minister Hazel Manning along with sons Brian and David Manning. Among the scores of supporters and well wishers who turned up for the service were Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley, Diego Martin Central MP Dr Amery Browne, Point Fortin MP Paula Gopee-Scoon, Arouca/Maloney MP Alicia Hospedales and former minister of Public Utilities Mustapha Abdul Hamid.

Members of the San Fernando East Constituency said the service was “a thanksgiving to God for the tender mercies bestowed upon their beloved Patrick Manning.” It was the second seizure suffered by 67-year-old Manning who is recovering from a stroke since January, 2012. He gave his relatives and constituents a scare when he collapsed at his San Fernando East constituency office on Thursday evening.

On Friday, his sister Dr Petronella Manning-Alleyne, a neonatologist, said such seizures were often associated with long-term recovery from a stroke. She said he recovered shortly after he was attended to at the Accident and Emergency department. However, as a precaution, he was kept overnight for observation.

“I am fine, I am good,” Manning told members of the media, outside his Sumadh Garden, Vistabella, home on Friday morning as he got out of the front passenger seat of his car. He has been on continuous leave from the Parliament for the past year, and was scheduled to return in March at the end of a 42-day extension of his sick leave that the Speaker granted  on January 23.

Sources say this setback may not affect his return to the Parliament.