President Barack Obama received 12 stitches in his lip Friday after being inadvertently hit in the mouth by Rey Decerega of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute during a holiday basketball game with family and friends.
The question of who was behind “Elbowgate” was solved late Friday afternoon when Decerega issued a statement identifying himself as the perpetrator.
“I learned today the president is both a tough competitor and a good sport. I enjoyed playing basketball with him this morning. I’m sure he’ll be out on the court again soon,” he said.
White House Press Secretary Gibbs said the stitches were administered by the White House Medical Unit in the doctor’s office located on the ground floor of the White House.
The president, 49, was given a local anesthetic while receiving the stitches to his upper lip. The Medical Unit used a smaller filament, which increases the number of stitches but makes a tighter stitch and results in a smaller scar.
In several pictures taken after the game at Washington’s Ft. McNair, the president could be seen holding something small and white — perhaps a tissue or napkin — to his lower lip as he walked toward his car.
The incident reportedly occurred in the fifth of five games when Decerega turned into Obama, who was playing defense, to take a shot and his elbow hit the president in the mouth.
Other players included Avery Robinson, the president’s nephew, Reggie Love, an Obama aide and former Duke basketball star, and Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education.
Obama returned from the game about 11:15 am Friday. The president was later spotted in a White House window looking out as Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha received an 18 1/2 foot Douglas fir from a Pennsylvania farm that will become the official White House Christmas tree.
Obama had an ice pack on his lip.
His injury was far from the first suffered by a president while in office. His predecessor, George W. Bush, fell off a mountain bike at his Crawford, Tex., Ranch in 2004 and suffered scrapes and scratches. Two years earlier, he briefly lost consciousness after choking on a pretzel.
Other presidential medical mishaps included Bill Clinton popping out his right knee after tripping on a step in Florida in 1997 and President George H.W. Bush falling ill and collapsing at a state dinner in Japan in 1992.