After being treated in hospital for a centipede bite, the Cook Islands Internal Affairs minister, Albert Nicholas, says he is stronger than before.
Cook Islands Minister of Internal Affairs Albert Nicholas Photo: RNZI/Flo Syme-Buchanan
The Cook Islands Party MP has accused the Democratic Party of spinning a story about his health "out of context and control".
Mr Nicholas is standing for election again when the country goes to the polls this week and says he is well and looking forward to serving the community.
He told the Cook Islands News people were surprised to see him in his village on Sunday because they had been told lies by the opposition that he was dying in hospital.
The bite led to a bacterial infection, resulting in blood poisoning, Mr Nicholas said
Choosing not to take local medical advice, the MP checked into Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, which he said was probably the best decision he had ever made.
"Upon checking myself into Auckland hospital, the medical team there advised me that if I had been one day later checking myself in, I wouldn't be sitting here, making this statement," he told the newspaper.
