Metro

Paterno taken off respirator, in ‘serious’ condition: reports

Tarnished former Penn State football legend Joe Paterno has been taken off a respirator and is near death, and his family has gathered to say their final goodbyes, according to multiple reports.

Onward State, the college student newspaper, reported the cancer-stricken Paterno was taken off a respirator this morning; The Citizens’ Voice reported his wife, Sue, summoned close friends and longtime staff members to a State College, Pa., hospital Saturday afternoon to say their final goodbyes.

According to sources, Sue Paterno had called in the close friends and longtime staff members at Joe Paterno’s request.

The family released a statement this evening but only said Paterno suffered recent “health complications.” He has been in the hospital since Jan. 13 for observation for what his family had called minor complications from cancer treatments.

“Over the last few days Joe Paterno has experienced further health complications. His doctors have now characterized his status as serious,” read the statement. “His family will have no comment on the situation and asks that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.”

Paterno, the winningest coach in Division I college football history, was fired by Penn State in November over his handling of a sex scandal involving a former defensive coordinator. The coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, is charged with sexually abusing at elast 8 boys over a 15-year period, many of whom he allegedly met through a charity he founded, The Second Mile.

Paterno is battling a treatable form of lung cancer, and he fractured his hip shortly after his firing on Nov. 9. Last week Paterno gave an exclusive interview to The Washington Post, in which he was described as being confined to a wheelchair and left so breatless by cancer he had difficulty speaking.