Already fighting a battle with cancer, former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno has been hospitalized for an issue unrelated to the cancer diagnosis.
Citing a source close to the Paterno family, the Associated Press is reporting that the coaching legend was taken to a State College after falling and re-fracturing his pelvis. Paterno had originally suffered injuries to his pelvis and shoulder area after being run over by a Nittany Lions player during summer camp this past August.
The AP writes that “it was determined he should stay in the hospital to keep his regiment of [cancer] treatments while recovering from the injury.”
No surgery will be required, the source said.
The original injury essentially kept Paterno off the sidelines and in the press box during game days until his firing last month. Paterno has been out of the public eye since being forced out as the Nittany Lions’ head coach in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.
The 84-year-old Paterno was diagnosed with lung cancer during the course of the ex-coach’s treatment for a bronchial illness. The diagnosis came a few days after his firing.