The mystery behind why Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman wore a single-hand compression glove during the FIFA World Cup opening ceremony has been solved.
The “Bruce Almighty” star, who appeared alongside Qatari YouTuber and social media influencer Ghanim Al Muftah, delivered the opening speech for the controversial tournament held in Qatar. Still, viewers’ attention seemed to be focused on the accessory on his left hand.
However, it was soon reported that the 85-year-old began wearing the medical mitten after suffering from fibromyalgia following a car crash in 2008. The news appeared to come as a shock to many fans who took to social media where they shared that this was their first time hearing of the “Driving Miss Daisy” star being involved in a motor vehicle accident.
“I was today years old when I found out Morgan Freeman wears a compression glove to keep blood from pooling in his left hand due to the car accident he was in that caused nerve damage. That was 2008. Can’t believe I didn’t know this. ”
Freeman has been wearing the glove on and off for over a decade, occasionally removing it for promotional photos and videos. In 2008, the “Million Dollar Baby” star and another passenger, Demaris Meyer, were injured after the 1997 Nissan Maxima that belonged to the latter ran off the side of a rural highway near the star’s Mississippi Delta home after a reported night of drinking at the Bayou Bend Golf and Country Club and later at a friend’s house.
The vehicle, reportedly driven by Freeman, flipped several times and landed upright in a ditch about 75 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. Charges were never filed. However, Meter did sue the actor the following year for medical expenses, pain and suffering, lost wages, permanent disability and property damage.
In a 2012 interview with Esquire, the star and his interviewer, Tom Chiarella, explained the situation: “It hurts when he walks when he sits still, when he rises from his couch, and when he missteps in a damp meadow. More than hurts. It seems a kind of agony, though he never mentions it.”
Chiarella added, “Despite surgery to repair nerve damage, he was stuck with a useless left hand. It is stiffly gripped by a compression glove most of the time to ensure that blood doesn’t pool there. It is a clamp, his pain, an icy shot up a relatively useless limb.”
