An 81-year-old Republican lawmaker suffered a bloody fall from a marble staircase just outside the House chamber on Friday afternoon.
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., accidentally fell down a flight of stairs between the second and third floors of the Capitol after the first meeting of the House of Representatives this year.
Multiple stories indicated that Foxx’s fall caused her to start bleeding.
She was seen bleeding from her head and leg as staffers pressed tissues against her wounds to stop blood flow.
Shortly after her fall, medical personnel rushed to her aid and began assisting her.
A statement released by her office following the incident shows that the octogenarian lawmaker is doing well.
‘Representative. Foxx slipped as she walked down the marble steps outside the House chamber after walking over to talk to her family in the gallery,” began a statement from her office shared with DailyMail.com.
“After being helped to her feet and examined by medical personnel, she made her own way to the attending physician’s office to receive treatment for a few individual lacerations. Everything seems to be fine.’
Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., walks to the House floor for a vote at the Capitol on September 29, 2023. The 81-year-old slipped and injured herself at the Capitol on Friday
The hard marble steps outside the floor of the house, near where Foxx was before he fell
Foxx also joked about the incident on her X account: “I’m a mountain woman and we’re stronger than a $2 steak.”
“Thank you everyone for your prayers – just a few minor cuts and I’m doing just fine,” the statement said.
While she joked about the incident, older lawmakers getting hurt is no laughing matter as Foxx’s health scare is just the latest to rock Washington.
Last month, two other high-ranking over-80s were also involved in scary falls.
Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell — two of the most powerful people in Congress — both fell and injured themselves in December.
Pelosi, like Foxx, also recently slipped and fell on a marble staircase.
The 84-year-old California Democrat suffered a nasty fall during a European trip to Luxembourg with several other lawmakers just before Christmas. A lawmaker later blamed her iconic high heels for playing a role in the incident.
Pelosi’s fall down the stairs was so severe that she broke her hip.
Foxx, a former teacher, served 20 years in Congress
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky wears a bandage on his face as he walks to cast a vote on the Senate floor after falling during a lunch on Capitol Hill weeks ago
The Republican was given a bandage to treat a cut on his face below his left eye
Her spokesperson later issued a statement saying she had undergone successful hip replacement surgery and thanked medical professionals in both Germany and Luxembourg.
She had just returned from Europe after her hip replacement to get to Washington in time to vote in Friday’s weak speaker election.
McConnell, meanwhile, collapsed during a Senate luncheon on December 11, the latest fall in a string of health problems in recent years, including multiple falls.
Medical personnel using wheelchairs were called in after the senator fell and sprained his wrist during lunch. He also cut his face and later wore a bandage.
Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas) noted that former Speaker Pelosi wore “very high” heels when she fell in Europe last Friday. He said that despite the operation, the 84-year-old is “doing well”
The group of lawmakers met with the Grand Duke on Friday before Pelosi was rushed to hospital. Here she is seen holding the hand of Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas
An aide was tasked with helping the 82-year-old Kentucky Republican to and from the Senate floor so lawmakers could do their work.
McConnell has been involved in several falls and some bizarre frostbite incidents in recent years.
After serving as the longest-tenured Republican Senate leader in history, the 82-year-old shockingly announced he would not seek re-election to a leadership position.
Since 2007, he has served as leader of the Republican Senate Conference.