Morgan Freeman in "Good Spirits," Headed for Surgery After Crash

Update

Morgan Freeman in "Good Spirits," Headed for Surgery After Crash

Mon., Aug. 4, 2008 3:46 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

Jason Kempin/Getty Images

Morgan Freeman appears to be on his way back to his sonorous old self again.

According to the actor’s rep, the Oscar winner suffered several broken bones Sunday in a single-car crash in Mississippi that authorities described as a “typical accident”—albeit one which necessitated the jaws of life and required Freeman and his passenger be airlifted to a nearby hospital.

But things are looking up.

“Morgan has a broken arm, elbow and has minor shoulder damage but was in good spirits when I spoke with him a short time ago at the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Med, a Level 1 Trauma Center at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis,” publicist Donna Lee said in a statement released this afternoon.

“He is having a little bit of surgery this afternoon or tomorrow to help correct the damage. He says he’ll be OK and is looking forward to a full recovery.”

(Collective sigh of relief.)

The Mississippi Highway Patrol said that Freeman was behind the wheel of his friend’s 1997 Nissan Maxima when the accident occurred. Per authorities, the 71-year-old actor lost control of the vehicle and then overcorrected, causing the compact car to roll over several times.

Both Freeman and passenger Demaris Meyer, 48, apparently were wearing their seatbelts at the time, and there is no sign that alcohol was involved.

"I think it's safe to say no charges are planned,” MHP spokesman Officer Ben Williams told E! News.

Freeman and his wife, Myrna, have a home just a few miles from the accident site.

The actor's rep also said that well-wishers are welcome to leave messages on the website of the hurricane-preparedness charity Plan!t Now, the Dark Knight player’s pet cause.

(Originally published Aug. 4, 2008 at 3:05 p.m. PT.)