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November 26, 2010

12 stitches for Obama after errant elbow in hoops

The Associated Press

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

click image to enlarge

President Obama walks with a U.S. Secret Service agent back to his vehicle after playing a private game of basketball at Fort McNair in Washington today.

AP

Press secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement that Obama was inadvertently struck by an elbow. The elbow's owner wasn't identified.

Obama received the stitches under local anesthesia in the doctor's office on the ground floor of the White House after he returned home.

The president had traveled to nearby Fort McNair to indulge in one of his favorite athletic pursuits, basketball. It was a five-on-five contest involving family and friends and including Reggie Love, Obama's personal assistant who played at Duke University.

Obama emerged from the building after about 90 minutes of play, wearing 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 something white against his mouth.

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