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Morgan Freeman seriously hurt in crash


Published: Monday, August 4, 2008 at 11:12 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, August 4, 2008 at 11:21 a.m.

JACKSON, Miss. - Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman was in a hospital in Memphis, Tenn., on Monday after being injured in a car accident near his home in Mississippi.

AP/Evan Agostini
Morgan Freeman

Regional Medical Center spokeswoman Kathy Stringer said Freeman, 71, is in serious condition. The hospital is about 90 miles north of the accident scene in rural Tallahatchie County in the Mississippi Delta.

Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Ben Williams said Freeman was driving a 1997 Nissan Maxima belonging to Demaris 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.

Clay McFerrin, editor of Sun Sentinel in Charleston, said he arrived at the accident scene on Mississippi Highway 32 soon after it happened about 5 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 when it left the highway and landed in a ditch.

"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.

Freeman won an Oscar for his role in "Million Dollar Baby." His screen credits also include "The Shawshank Redemption," "Driving Miss Daisy" and "The Dark Knight," now in theaters.

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.

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.


Comments

  1. steffi1 says...
    August 4, 2008 12:04:50 pm

    I hope this is not another sign of the Batman Movie curse...He was great in the movie..I wish him a speedy recovery......

  2. ou812 says...
    August 4, 2008 1:22:02 pm

    A 1997 Nissan Maxima? Being a movie actor ain't what it used to be...

  3. pdreader says...
    August 4, 2008 1:35:38 pm

    He's one of my favorites. I hope he gets through this. BTW ou812, he's one of the richest in Hollywood. It looks like he just doesn't want to flaunt it. Though he does spend a lot of time sailing. God bless you Mr. Freeman.

  4. pippsqueek says...
    August 4, 2008 3:25:54 pm

    Mr. Freeman~I adore you and your acting! Please get well soon and I hope the lady who was with you will have a speedy recovery. You are the best at what you do, my personal favorite is Shawshank Redemption

  5. captankona says...
    August 4, 2008 3:53:50 pm

    "There's no indication that either alcohol or drugs were involved...most likely it was the hummer. It takes a strong person to be able to maintain control when receiving a hummer while driving."

  6. harpman1 says...
    August 4, 2008 4:52:15 pm

    Since he narrates every good documentary these days, who will take over that task?

    And don't say Gilbert Gottfried!

  7. fknmooo says...
    August 4, 2008 7:57:52 pm

    gilbert got fried... yea thats about it... that man is annoying.

  8. granny10 says...
    August 4, 2008 10:09:27 pm

    Morgan Freedman is a class act in Hollywood. I really hope he recovers. Unlike our younger celebrities....he has class. Brad and Angelina just sold their babies photos to people magazine for 14 million. Not a penny of that will go to help people in America. What about New Orleans? I know they've helped there, but nearly as much as the the people overseas. This is the time that celebrities better start to remember whose buttering their bread. Instead, it's going to an Aids Clinic in Africa, that their daughter Sahara will run when she's older. She's 3 !!! Do they really think she wants to go back to that hell hole? Right now,America needs help. We have people die everyday from lack of insurance, food, and violence. Remember this when you buy your People magazine, and pay for a movie. Let's teach them a lesson! I know this is off coarse from the topic, but I'd like to know what others think.

  9. curmar1 says...
    August 4, 2008 11:23:18 pm

    i was thinking the same thing...oh well...as long as he wasn't on a cell phone. seems to me that there should be a no hummer while driving law....about as sensible as the cell phone law

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