Freeman In Serious Condition After Crash

Actor "In Good Spirits" After Breaking Arm, Elbow In Mississippi Wreck

(CBS/AP)  Morgan Freeman remained in serious condition Tuesday with a broken arm and elbow after rescuers used a jaws-of-life machine to free him and a passenger from their car after it crashed on a stretch of rural Mississippi Delta highway this weekend.

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.

[lamarraqueen]

I'm so happy Morgan Freeman is recovering, thats excellent news.

[julie2btrue]

About the "humanity" aspects of this story....
It''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?

[wakeup60]

First of All...It is a Big Deal...no one knows what all is wrong with his arm/if it were "JUST BROKEN" if wouldn''t be a "big deal" but...He was in Critical Condition when he was admitted to the hospital so it must have been a very bad injury/to say the least/Morgan Freeman is by far one of finest & gifted actors of the Arts. And yes...it is of interest to the one''s out here that appreciate and admire this wonderful man...to be made aware of his accident and to know he is going to heal and be OK! Sending many warm wishes for everything to go well with his surgeries & a Very Speedy Recovery for he and his passenger.So glad they both will be alright. There are many more roles for him conquer. Thinking of both families. Get well Soon!

[rytom64]

obama441 wrote: "About 100000 Iraqi civilians - half of them women and children - have died in Iraq since the invasion, mostly as a result of airstrikes by coalition forces, ...are you "praying" for them as well?"
-----------------------------------------------

Why are you praying to God and trying to change his divine plan ? Who are you do change God''s plan ?

[mediabrat60]

what happened to the other guy? Not important enough to report?

[tootall10142]

It is called a filler story.The really good actors act the really bad actors act like they know what they are doing.John travolta was vaulted into fame by the media and his own financing of movies.but will remembered best by acting like a ignorant teenager in saturday night live.But freeman because his heart is in his work and not his wallet has producers lined up outside his office.Some but not all of american actors are our own personal little tresures that hold dear to our hearts.If you seperated real actors from the computer imagine movies half of the so called actors guild would have to go home and i wish a bunch of them would just quit insulting our inteeligence by putting out these stupid do overs.GOOD LUCK TO MR. FREEMAN WE NEED YOU IN THE ARTS .

[godseyesore-2009]

Why no information on his passenger? Not a star means you are forgotten and unimportant to news agencies.

[hurtmorons]

Easy Reader Rules!

[whatithink-2009]

anon00,

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."

[nextgenman]

Posted by anon00 at 04:40 AM : Aug 05, 2008
---------

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.

[abmitus]

Gte well soon Bro.

[tbweb]

Christians are not suppose to hate at all, anything! Christians dislike sin and evil. Hate is not allowed!

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.

[afdj1-2009]

Best wishes and a speedy recovery to Morgan Freemon and his female passenger from one of his biggest fans I would like to know what really caused the crash , but I would like to see him play in a movie with Eddy Murphy , Lauence fishborne and or Samual L. Jackson we as in my family think they would be great in a movie togather thank you for the person you are and for the persona you emulate in your movies you are an exceptional person as an actor and as a man and my children lov you my husban says his favorite movie is Lean On Me if you are ever in wichita we would love to see you.

[andrewe77]

I wish I could tell you that Morgan fought the good fight, and the car let him be. I wish I could tell you that - but the highway is no fairy-tale world.

[meinnv]

Oh, I do have a high school diploma and was studying psychology before I realized that too many people were mentally disturbed and the fact that they were roaming loose on society depressed the he11 out of me, so I turned towards Criminal Justice :)

Much more interesting subject.

[meinnv]

My best wishes to Morgan Freeman as well as his passenger for a speedy recovery.

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.

[dakotaclark]

Hmmm...

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!

[noirceur]

Best Wishes to you Mr.Freeman.

[ofbyfor1]

I love Morgan Freeman as an actor and wish him quick healing, but, let''''s see...he was driving a car belonging to a woman named Demaris Meyer with HER in with him, yet he lives a few miles away from the accident site with his "wife."
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?

[ofbyfor1]

Doubtful that SoVerySmart has any friends.