An array of reports regarding the health of Joe Paterno has been released from State College tonight. Joe Paterno has been fighting lung cancer and has been in the hospital since January 13th, and today has faced new complications from the chemotherapy treatments.
Early this afternoon there were multiple reports about Joe Paterno’s health, and one source even said that Paterno was taken off the respirator in the morning. As the day progressed, more detailed reports surfaced, and local blog Onward State was the first to report Paterno’s death at about 8:45PM. This report, which was cited as coming from an unnamed source, was then picked up by CBS, who spread the word of Joe’s reported death across the country.
Next, around 9:30, Scott and Jay Paterno, two of Joe’s sons, tweeted that their father was not dead and that the reports were incorrect. Onward State then retracted its statement and apologized for the error. At this point, Joe is believed to still be alive.
In State College, students have gathered around his statue in front of Beaver Stadium in prayer. The word of Joe’s death spread through the crowd, but there were still many that were unsure or had not heard the report yet. Then, after Scott and Jay Paterno confirmed that their father was still alive, the mood lightened and the nearly 600 student crowd began to dissipate. However, the mood on the Penn State is one of uncertainly, fear, and prayer as students have been flocking to the Joe Paterno statue at Beaver Stadium for the past two hours. We will continue to be on top of this story and will report new updates, but only when they are confirmed and 100% accurate.
BREAKING NEWS AT THIS MINUTE: Jay Paterno no longer at the hospital, drove by students gathered outside Beaver Stadium. Below is his Tweet from his official twitter account:
“Drove by students at the Joe statue. Just told my Dad about all the love & support–inspiring him.”