Keep Morgan Freeman in your thoughts

[Geekyfanboy]

Morgan Freeman seriously injured in car crash

By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer Mon Aug 4, 8:27 PM ET

JACKSON, Miss. - Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was hospitalized in serious condition Monday after the car he was driving left a rural road in the Mississippi Delta and flipped several times.

Freeman, 71, was airlifted to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis, Tenn., about 90 miles north of the accident in rural Tallahatchie County.

The actor "has a broken arm, broken elbow and minor shoulder damage, but is in good spirits," according to a statement from Donna Lee, Freeman's publicist. A hospital spokeswoman said Freeman was in serious condition but would not discuss his injuries.

"He is having a little bit of surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to help correct the damage," Lee's statement said. "He says he'll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery."

Freeman, who won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby," is among the stars in "The Dark Knight," now in theaters. His screen credits also include "Driving Miss Daisy."

Freeman and a companion were traveling on a dark, two-lane highway that cuts through the expansive farmlands of the Mississippi Delta when the car ran off the side of the road shortly before midnight Sunday, authorities said. The vehicle flipped several times but landed upright in a ditch alongside Mississippi Highway 32, about 5 miles west of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said rescuers had to use the jaws of life to remove Freeman from the car.

"He was lucid, conscious. He was talking, joking with some of the rescue workers at one point," said Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, who arrived at the scene soon after the accident happened.

McFerrin said it appeared Freeman's car was airborne when it left the highway.

Bystanders converged on the accident scene trying to get a glimpse of the actor, McFerrin said.

When one person tried to snap a photo with a cell phone camera, Freeman joked, "no freebies, no freebies," McFerrin said.

Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima that belonged to Demaris Meyer of Memphis.

"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 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.

"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," Azar said. "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.

[wraith1701]

Sad news... Freeman is one of my favorite actors.  He always seems to inject his roles with an air of dignity.  I hope he pulls through o.k.

[Geekyfanboy]

Freeman in 'good spirits' after car crash surgery

By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 2 minutes ago

JACKSON, Miss. - Morgan Freeman is doing well after surgery to reconnect nerves and repair damage to his left arm and hand following a car wreck Sunday night, his publicist said.

The surgery Monday night "lasted approximately four and a half hours including recovery and he is in good spirits and was visiting with family members this morning," Donna Lee, Freeman's publicist, said in a statement Tuesday.

"He was walking this (morning), and is looking forward to his release as soon as possible," Lee said.

Freeman, 71, and Demaris Meyer, 48, of Memphis, Tenn., were taken to the Regional Medical Center in Memphis following the accident on a dark stretch of rural Mississippi Delta highway in Tallahatchie County.

State troopers said the car careened off the highway and flipped end-over-end before landing upright in a ditch. Rescuers used a jaws-of-life machine to free "The Dark Knight" star and Meyer from the wreckage of the car.

Freeman was airlifted about 90 miles to the Regional Medical Center where he was treated for a broken arm, broken elbow and shoulder damage, Lee said.

Bill Rogers, a retired police officer, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he witnessed the accident near the small town of Charleston, not far from where Freeman owns a home with his wife.

Rogers said Freeman complained of pain from injuries before being loaded onto a medical helicopter, but "was more concerned about the people around him than himself."

"Mr. Freeman thought he may have gone to sleep but he wasn't sure," Rogers said. "He didn't know what happened."

"The car was bent on the front as well as rear — I mean severely," Rogers said. "It was so bad I couldn't tell what it was."

The Mississippi Highway Patrol is still investigating the accident, Sgt. Ben Williams said Tuesday. Alcohol and drugs don't appear to be a factor and no citations are likely to be filed, he said.

Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman remained in serious condition Tuesday. Meyer's name wasn't in the hospital registry, Stringer said. However, under medical privacy laws, people can request that their names not be listed as patients at a hospital.

Williams said Meyer was in the Memphis hospital when the Highway Patrol checked Monday night and both she and Freeman were in "good spirits."

Rogers said he was "watching television about 11:15 and I heard a car sliding on the highway out in front of our house."

"As I looked out the window, I saw it began to flip after it hit our next-door neighbor's drive. It went end-over-end about twice and then it came back on its wheels in the ditch. It was a mess," he said.

Rogers said Freeman and Meyer were briefly unconscious when he got to the vehicle. Freeman was driving Meyer's 1997 Nissan Maxima, authorities said.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." His screen credits also include "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Bucket List."

[Meds]

In our thoughts over here in Blighty. Really enjoyed The Bucket List which i know got panned a bit but i though the chemistry between Nicholson and Morgan was that similar to that of Lemmon and Matthau.