Nov. 8: Penn State football coach Joe Paterno speaks briefly to reporters as he leaves for football practice in State College, Pa. Paterno was later fired by the university board of trustees for not doing more to report allegations of child sex abuse by his former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who retired in 1999. (AP)
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday due to minor complications linked to his ongoing bout with lung cancer.
"Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital this afternoon for observation after experiencing minor complications from his ongoing cancer treatments," McGinn and Company, a media consultancy company that is representing the Paterno family, told NewsCore in a statement.
"Since being diagnosed with a treatable form of lung cancer in November, Coach Paterno has been undergoing a continuous regimen of treatments. In December he also fell and re-injured his pelvis. Although these issues have been challenging for Coach Paterno and his family, he has total confidence in his doctors and is determined to make a full recovery."
Paterno, 85, was diagnosed with cancer a week after he was fired amid the child sex abuse case involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.
The legendary coach was most recently hospitalized after re-fracturing his pelvis in December. It was the second time Paterno had suffered the injury. He first broke his hip in August after he was accidentally knocked down by a player during a Penn State preseason practice.
The hospitalization comes after Paterno spoke this week with the Washington Post in what will be his first extensive public comments since his firing.
Details of the interview will be released Saturday afternoon, the paper said.
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