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Obama Gets 12 Stitches After Elbow To Mouth

Written by Associated Press on November 26, 2010 8:57 pm

Obama bloody lip

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama needed 12 stitches in his upper lip after taking an errant elbow during a pickup basketball game Friday morning with family and friends visiting for the Thanksgiving holiday, the White House said.

First word of the injury came in a statement from press secretary Robert Gibbs nearly three hours after the incident.

The White House did not initially name the person who caused the injury, but identified him later Friday as Rey Decerega, director of programs for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute

Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor’s office on the ground floor of the White House after returning home. Doctors used a smaller filament than typically used, which increases the number of stitches but makes a tighter stitch and leaves a smaller scar.

The president had gone to nearby Fort McNair to indulge in a game of basketball, one of his favorite athletic pursuits. It was a five-on-five contest involving family and friends. Among the players were Obama’s nephew, Avery Robinson, Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Reggie Love, Obama’s personal assistant, who played at Duke University.

The White House said the injury happened during their fifth and final game when Decerega turned to take a shot and hit Obama, who was playing defense, in the mouth with his elbow.

Obama emerged from the building after about 90 minutes of play, wearing a short-sleeve T-shirt and gym pants, and was seen dabbing at his mouth with what appeared to be a wad of gauze. A few hours later, reporters who had gathered on the White House driveway for the arrival of the Christmas tree saw the president in an upstairs window, pressing an ice pack against his mouth before he stood and walked away.

“After being inadvertently hit with an opposing player’s elbow in the lip while playing basketball with friends and family, the president received 12 stitches today administered by the White House Medical Unit,” Gibbs said.

Decerega issued a statement through the White House late Friday. He did not immediately respond to an e-mail request from The Associated Press for independent comment.

“I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport,” the statement said. “I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning. I’m sure he’ll be back out on the court again soon.”

Obama’s motorcade obeyed all traffic stops, the custom for nonofficial trips, during the return to the White House.

In February, Obama, 49, was deemed to be in excellent health and fit for duty after his first medical checkup as president. Doctors reported then that Obama had yet to kick a smoking habit, takes anti-inflammatory medication to relieve chronic tendinitis in his left knee and should make dietary changes to reduce his cholesterol levels.

Obama was told to return for another physical exam in August 2011, after he turns 50. In addition to regular pickup basketball games, Obama is also an avid golfer.

Obama had no public events scheduled during the long holiday weekend.

His stitched lip, however, could make for some interesting small talk on Tuesday, when Obama is to meet with the congressional leadership. The session originally was announced for Nov. 18, but was delayed after Republicans, who will control the House and increase their numbers in the Senate come January, said they couldn’t accommodate the president.

Medical help is always nearby for U.S. presidents. A doctor or nurse is stationed at the White House around the clock and accompanies the president in his motorcade and aboard Air Force One.

Recent presidents have had a number of medical scares.

George W. Bush choked on a pretzel and briefly lost consciousness, falling and hurting his head. Bill Clinton had surgery and used crutches for months for a torn tendon in his knee when he stumbled on steps at the Florida home of golf pro Greg Norman.

The elder Bush, George H.W. Bush, was hospitalized for an erratic heartbeat while jogging at Camp David, a problem later diagnosed as a thyroid ailment. The senior Bush also collapsed at a state dinner in Tokyo, which the White House blamed on an intestinal flu.

Jimmy Carter fainted briefly while jogging near Camp David. Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest in a 1981 assassination attempt.

Former Vice President Dick Cheney, 69, has had five heart attacks since age 37. He had surgery this year to install a pump to help his heart work. Cheney said he has congestive heart failure.

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News One Links

 
  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Mrbrmann225/ Mrbrmann225

    Maybe now he’ll stop lying to everybody and tell the truth about himself.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BlackscholarMI/ BlackscholarMI

    The only positive outcome to this story is that President Barack ” The Black Judas Goat” Obama has received a small inkling of reciprocity for his continued disrespect, neglect, and dismissiveness to the Black community. Further, I find it amazing that simply because this non-collegiate athlete was hit in lying, decepetive, and manipulative mouth that its national news while our servicemembers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan and it barely make headline news. Final point, “The Black Judas Goat” domestic and foreign policies are nothing more than a continuation of G.W. Bush and W.J. Clinton on “Steriods” while the politically ill-informed Black community blindly supports his policies.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MrWantSomeNewBooty/ MrWantSomeNewBooty

    Wow!!!! How did a story about President Obama who is human and was merely playing a “pick up” game of the sport that he loves and him suffering an injury from it turn into a political firestorm of comments? Whether you like him or not and whether or not you agree with his policies, he is still the President. He just loves to play basketball in his down time and from what I hear he is a pretty tough competitor and plays hard.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzwatch/ jazzwatch

    Injuries will happen to EVERYBODY direct and indirect…..he’s not Superman, though……

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/coldt7/ coldt7

    He’ll be alright,he have health insurance.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/odoggz/ odoggz

    it was a low-budget way of trying to make him more sympathetic and connected with real blacks. By elbowing him in the mouth, making his lips swell up, they were hoping he’d feel more black. Let’s see if it works.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MyEyezAdoreU/ MyEyezAdoreU

    LOL @odoggz. You think maybe he would shut up and actually do something significant with his presidency?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/MR_NANASTROKER/ MR_NANASTROKER

    the constitution is irrelevant
    the only laws that are gettin things done are black code laws

    All “Persons”, “citizens”, “Residents”, “nationals”, Etc. Are In Continual War Since The Colonies Of Union Was Set Up By The Moors/13 Clan Mothers. These Corpus Entities Do Not Have Rights, Constitutions, Treaties, Privileges, Etc… All Been Suspended Since The Introduction… All Must Free/Save Themselves And Not Continue The War Within Themselves.

    Late 2005 The Corpus Fictus Known As The U.S. Filed For Chp. 7. Everything That Has Been Going On Over The Past Years Is Liquidation. If You Look At The U.S. Title Code Under “Depopulation” You Will See That Part Of Every “Persons” Life Is The Depopulation Program… The Whole World Is Under The Same Process Of Elimination. Notice To All Parties: Stop Buying Into The Affairs, Do Your Studying, & Save Yourself.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/ABLKMAN2NO/ ABLKMAN2NO

    Dick Cheney has no business on this list. He has never been a President and has not earned the right to be mentioned on this page nor in the same breath. Doing so elevates this serial killer and sociopath inspired mass murderer to a status he has neither earned nor is it anything less than a typo!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/EYANGO/ EYANGO

    i am waithing for some stupid dum ass to blame tthe tea party or GWB

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/coldt7/ coldt7

    It took a real dumbazz like you to even think somebody would blame this sh*t on the teaparty, or GWB.Why don’t you go back to Africa boy,you’re making us black people here look bad.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/chocaulit/ chocaulit

    its nice to see the usual haters are once again inclined to take a simple cut lip to dizzying heights for the purpose of denigrating the pres. whats gonna be next? he gonna stub his toe and the wars and unrest in the middle east will be blamed on that?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/digg_it_up/ digg_it_up

    he got his azz a good shellackin

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/odoggz/ odoggz

    @MyEyezAdoreU
    lol if they shut his speeches up, what else does the guy have in his arsenal?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/_A_/ _A_

    Well I know this story will “mysteriously” go undetected by this crack news team here at NewsOne, so allow me to provide some assistance.

    Sun Nov 28, 3:43 pm ET

    WASHINGTON (AFP) – Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh admits covering up US military strikes on Al-Qaeda in Yemen by claiming they are carried out by Yemeni forces, according to US doc**ents leaked by WikiLeaks.

    “We’ll continue saying the bombs are ours, not yours,” Saleh said in January talks with General David Petraeus, then commander of US forces in the Middle East, according to a leaked US diplomatic cable published by the New York Times.

    The cable was sent by the US ambassador to Yemen, the daily said.

    The daily said the remarks prompted Yemen?s deputy prime minister to “joke that he had just ?lied? by telling parliament” that Yemeni forces had staged the strikes against Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Qaeda’s Yemeni arm.

    And during a meeting about Al-Qaeda with John Brennan, the US deputy national security adviser, Saleh was “dismissive, bored and impatient,” according to another leaked US diplomatic cable published in Britain’s The Guardian.

    The Washington Post reported earlier this month that Washington had deployed drones to hunt down jihadists.

    With more than 100,000 US troops fighting Al-Qaeda’s allies in Afghanistan and public skepticism in Yemen over the US military’s role there, US officials have stressed that Sanaa will lead the fight against Islamist militants.

    On November 16, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said providing equipment and training to Yemeni security forces offered the best way to counter the threat posed by Al-Qaeda militants.

    end of story

    _____________________________________________________________________

    One of only two explanations for this. Either BHO and his admin are liars and have just been exposed, or the military is now rogue and implementing global policy without the BHO administrations knowledge. If the latter is true, expect Gen Petreus to be Court Martialed in short order. These are the actions of a Nobel Peace Prize winner??? You people who want to continue to call the critics, haters, YOU are the true haters. Haters of YOURSELVES! So much so, that you are willing to subvert your ability to think for yourself and allow someone else to lead you around. SMH!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Reporting-Truth7/ Reporting-Truth7

    Obama Gets 12 Stitches After Elbow To Mouth

    THAT WAS NOT AN ACCIDENT THAT WAS A PURPOSE.

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