Andrew O’Keefe is rushed to hospital after suspected drug overdose
Channel Seven star Andrew O’Keefe was resuscitated by paramedics last weekend after a suspected drug overdose at a party in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
O’Keefe, 52, was partying at a house in Vaucluse at 3.30am on Saturday when emergency services were called.
Paramedics successfully resuscitated the former Deal or No Deal presenter, before he was taken to nearby St Vincent’s Hospital for treatment. the Daily Telegraph reports.
He has since been discharged from hospital.
In a statement, New South Wales Police said: ‘Officers from the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command were called to a residence on Old South Head Road in Vaucluse at approximately 3.40am following concerns for the welfare of a 52-year-old man.
NSW Ambulance paramedics attended to the man and took him to St Vincent’s Hospital, where he is said to be in a stable condition.
“The investigation into the incident is still ongoing.”
Andrew O’Keefe was resuscitated by paramedics after a drug overdose at a party in Sydney’s eastern suburbs last weekend
O’Keefe was last seen in public on Wednesday when he was spotted picking up Elisha Dalah, a 35-year-old scion of a high-society family who was previously caught stealing from a Westfield shopping centre in 2022.
O’Keefe’s appearance, with a cigarette hanging from his mouth, came just days after a court on Monday upheld his domestic violence conviction.
District Court Judge John Pickering rejected his lawyers’ arguments that the woman had scratched her arm herself and later blamed O’Keefe.
However, the judge dismissed other drug possession charges after ruling that there was no evidence that items found in a locker in O’Keefe’s apartment belonged to him.
The troubled former TV star was convicted in January of three counts of domestic violence, two counts of breaching a Prohibition Order against him and two counts of possession of a prohibited drug.
He was sentenced to 18 months’ community service under a community service order, which carries supervision and reporting obligations, and a $800 fine for drug offences.
Emergency services arrived at the scene of an incident at a house in Vaucluse at around 3:30 am on Saturday
During an attack in September 2021, O’Keefe was found to have pushed the woman against a doorway, struck her with the heel of his hand and forced her to the ground, before kicking her in the thigh and scratching her chest with his nails.
But O’Keefe’s lawyer, Phillip Boulten SC, said the woman’s claim that she had cut her hand on a hinge after being pushed through the door was not supported by physical evidence.
Boulten said that if it was found that the woman had not been truthful about the scratches on her arm, her entire evidence should be rejected.
Judge Pickering told the court he saw no reason why the woman would lie about the attack, noting that she had indicated at the time that she did not wish to make a complaint to police.
“It was clear from her communications with police that she did not want police to get involved in this,” he said.
“I don’t see what the benefit was to the complainant. I am satisfied that the complainant was a truthful witness to this incident.”
As the verdict was read in court, O’Keefe shook his head in frustration and handed written notes to his attorney.
O’Keefe has admitted there was an argument, but he claims he accidentally bumped into the woman because they were so close together, and that he did not push her.
The woman claimed that after her fall, O’Keefe told her, “Good job, I barely touched you.”
Judge Pickering ruled that the court could initially sentence O’Keefe to use an earlier incident from January 2021, in which O’Keefe admitted spitting in the same woman’s eye, to determine who was telling the truth.
“Most men in our community don’t behave this way,” he said.
O’Keefe previously presented Weekend Sunrise and a number of game shows including The Chase until his contract with Seven Network expired at the end of 2020.
