First Lady Jill Biden underwent a “successful” medical procedure Thursday at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after she suffered an injury to her foot at a beach in Hawaii. The first lady’s hospitalization came after she stepped on an object while walking on the beach in Hawaii last week, her press secretary Michael LaRosa said in a statement. Biden visited Hawaii on Sunday on her way home from leading the U.S. delegation to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
According to LaRosa, the unknown object became “lodged” in Biden’s left foot and the first lady required “a procedure” at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center “to remove the object.” LaRosa said the first lady’s husband, President Joe Biden, would join her at the medical center while she underwent the procedure. The Hill reported that Biden left to be at his wife’s side after giving remarks at the White House on the coronavirus pandemic. In a later update Thursday night, LaRosa said Biden underwent a “successful” procedure and would be returning to the White House.
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“[Biden] underwent a successful procedure on her left foot to flush out debris from a puncture wound. After inspection of the wound by medical staff, it is unclear what object caused the puncture,” LaRosa said in a statement. “The wound is now clean, free of infection and it is anticipated that it will heal nicely. She and the President will depart Walter Reed en route to the White House shortly.”
At this time, no further updates have been provided, and the first lady has not publicly addressed her hospitalization, which came just months after Biden in April underwent a “common medical procedure.” At the time, the Associated Press reported that the president accompanied his wife to an outpatient center near the campus of George Washington University. Communications director Elizabeth Alexander said in a statement that “the first lady tolerated the procedure well” and was expected to resume her regular schedule.
Biden’s most recent procedure came just days after she stopped in Hawaii, where she visited a pop-up coronavirus vaccination center at a school in Waipahu and urged “everyone listening right now, to choose to get vaccinated,” PEOPLE reported. Biden said COVID has become “more contagious than ever” due to new variants and said this latest push to get people vaccinated “seems the hardest of all. If you’ve only had one shot you need to get another. Help us move past this virus once and for all.”
