Gayle Manchin, the wife of Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) who co-chairs the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC), was involved in a traffic accident in Alabama last Monday and was taken to a nearby hospital along with ARC colleague Guy Land, the Associated Press reported.
Manchin and Land arrived in Alabama for an ARC grant workshop when they were involved in a car crash while traveling from the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport to a nearby hotel, Senator Manchin said in a January 30 statement.
Both Manchin and Land were transported to the University of Alabama-Birmingham Hospital where they were “receiving excellent care,” the senator said.
According to Senator Manchin, Gayle was in “stable condition” but would remain in the hospital another day as a precaution.
According to a statement from the ARC, the accident occurred when a second vehicle struck the car Manchin and Land were in as they were traveling to an event at a nearby hotel.
A former teacher, Gayle Manchin previously served as the president of the West Virginia Board of Education and as Secretary of Education and the Arts under Governor Jim Justice.
Mrs. Manchin was nominated by President Biden in 2021 to serve as the federal co-chair of the ARC, a commission charged with strengthening the economic growth in Appalachia.
In a January 31 statement, the ARC revealed that Mrs. Manchin had been discharged from the hospital that afternoon and had returned home to West Virginia to convalesce. Guy Land remained in the hospital where he was “continuing to receive excellent medical care,” the statement said.
Senator Manchin also confirmed that his wife had been released and was home being cared for by family members.
The senator thanked everyone for their “outpouring of support” and said that his family’s prayers were with Guy Land as he continued to recover.
