MEMPHIS, Tenn., Aug. 5, 2008
Freeman In Serious Condition After Crash
Actor "In Good Spirits" After Breaking Arm, Elbow In Mississippi Wreck
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Morgan Freeman (CBS/EARLY SHOW)
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Photo Essay Morgan Freeman The Oscar-winning actor with a commanding voice and calm demeanor is a Hollywood fixture.
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BEHIND THE MASK "The Dark Knight" Meet the actors, test your Bat-sense and follow the Caped Crusader through the decades.
Freeman, 71, and Demaris Meyer, 48, of Memphis, Tenn., were taken to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis following the accident in Tallahatchie County on Sunday night.
State troopers said the car careened off the highway and overturned twice before landing upright in a ditch.
"He has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage but he is in good spirits," Freeman's rep, Donna Lee, said in a statement Monday afternoon. "He is going to have surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to correct the damage. He says he'll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery."
Lee said "The Dark Knight" star is expected to make a full recovery.
Kathy Stringer, a spokeswoman at the Memphis hospital about 90
miles north of the accident, said Tuesday that no information,
other than the listing of serious, would be released about Freeman.
Bill Luckett, a business partner with Freeman in the Ground Zero Blues Club chain, told The Commercial Appeal in Memphis that Meyer, whom he described as a friend, was "in better condition than Morgan."
Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Meyer, of Memphis, when the car left a rural highway and flipped several times shortly before midnight Sunday.
"There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved," Williams said. He said both Freeman and Meyer were wearing seat belts. The woman's condition was not immediately available.
Freeman was airlifted to the hospital in Tennessee. It wasn't clear whether Meyer was being treated at the same hospital.
Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 4 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.
McFerrin said it appeared that Freeman's car was airborne went it left the highway and landed in a ditch.
The WREG-TV Web site reported Freeman may have fallen asleep at the wheel.
"They had to use the jaws of life to extract him from the vehicle," McFerrin said. "He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point."
McFerrin said bystanders converged on the scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor.
When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.
"I'm definitely concerned," country singer and fellow Mississippian Steve Azar, whose video for his hit "Waitin' on Joe" featured Freeman, said Monday. The two have also worked charity events together. "He's been the best ambassador our state has ever had.
"He could live anywhere in the world and he came back home. I just think it shows a lot about him as a person and how grounded he is."
The hospital where Freeman is being treated is commonly known as The Med, and is an acute-care teaching facility that serves patients within 150 miles of Memphis.
The popular actor, with his commanding voice and calm demeanor, has grown into one of the most respected figures in modern cinema. He is currently appearing in the blockbuster film "The Dark Knight," the latest in the Batman series.
Freeman won his Oscar for his supporting role in 2005's "Million Dollar Baby." He was also nominated for his roles in "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "Driving Miss Daisy" (1989) and "Street Smart" (1987).
He was born in Memphis, Tenn., but spent much of his childhood in the Mississippi Delta. He is a co-owner of the Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Miss.
©MMVIII CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Reuters Limited contributed to this report.
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See all 142 CommentsIt''s amazing and dis-heartening to me that so many people forget to see the factual side to a story. I say, ''God bless''to those of you out there who realize we all want...and need... to be thought of and remembered (in prayer or otherwise)when finding ourselves faced with adversity. Yes, I do agree, it is sad that we "little people"...(for lack of a better word) are sometimes forgotten. However, Mr. Freeman, is a good citizen of our country, working hard to earn his living, and not to mention, to entertain us....Lest we not forget that we (his fans) helped him acheive this noteriety...and I''m sure that he''s just as distressed because the importance and well being of his passenger, was not thought of in the same way as he. I wish Mr. Freeman, and Ms. Myers, a wonderful and safe recovery. And to those of you signing in on this page, try not to be so critical...Spread love and peace....And yes, Obama441, honest, I do pray...for us all. It seems we take life "for granted" far too much...And what are we teaching our children?
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Why are you praying to God and trying to change his divine plan ? Who are you do change God''s plan ?
I am always amazed at people who come to a page to spend time posting that something is not "news." If it is not "news" to you, then ignore it. However, just because you don''t think something is "news" doesn''t give you the right to tell others not to consider it "news."
Posted by anon00 at 04:40 AM : Aug 05, 2008
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I can tell that you like to get attention by trying to show everybody you''re different.
Hope it works out for you. I''d hate think your whole life is made up by the petty and irrelevant.
Posted by tbweb at 03:52 PM : Aug 04, 2008
You''ve never lived in the South have you? But then who would call them Christian?? You make a valid point for sure. It is very sad indeed.
Posted by skyk at 05:12 PM : Aug 04, 2008,,,
I`ve vacationed in the South, I have family in the South, I love the fresh farm food and close knit communities where the Church is the central meeting place. Religions don`t reject anyone, there is no form to fill out or some vetting process or regulation, individual Churches may restrict certain people but I personally don`t know of any. With that said, anyone can claim to be a Christian or a Muslim and commit crimes and negative agendas and acts in the name of a religion. All it takes is a little effort and homework to find a spiritual home and prevent getting caught up with the wrong groups. Simple research and understanding what a Christian or Muslim is and then watching those who claim to be Christians or Muslims will easily reveal they have hijacked the religion for their own purposes, not Gods! The sad thing is these hijackers scare people away from religion and God.
Much more interesting subject.
As far as the "Jaw of Life" that is the "nickname" given to a tool or set of instruments in which to cut parts of the car (if not the entire car) to extracate someone trapped inside.
I''m not an intellect or rescue worker, but have seen the tool used. Since prompt medical attention usually insures someone''s survival, the faster the rescue worker can access the victim, the faster the victim can get to the hospital.
Thus the "jaws of life" have saved many lives of those trapped in a car that is twisted, mangled and can not be accessed by any other means.
My best wishes for a speedy recovery for Morgan Freeman and his female passenger.
This looks like it could be a case of distracted driving; and, there are many causes of that, such as: talking on a phone, fooling with the radio or Tape/CD player, eating food, dropping a cigarette or a beverage between your legs, the driver fooling with the passenger, or, the passenger fooling with the driver...
On the other hand, driving while too tired might cause one to drift off the road and overcorrect, causing the car to flip several times.
Regardless of the cause, it is a *** good thing they were wearing seatbelts!
WHAT''''S GOIN'''' ON, Morgan???
Posted by feddupp at 07:45 PM : Aug 04, 2008
People aren''t allowed to have friends of the opposite $ex? Could be a friend of the family. Why do people always jump to the lowest conclusion?
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