UPDATE: Atlanta Native Cam Newton Suffers Back Injury in Accident in North Carolina

Photo Credit: Parker Anderson/Flickr

UPDATE (3:40 p.m.): The Carolina Panthers have confirmed that quarterback and Atlanta native Cam Newton has suffered two transverse process fractures in his lower back as the result of an accident which occurred on Tuesday afternoon, multiple sources report.

The transverse process is a part of each vertebrae, which extends horizontally out from the main bone. It is unlikely that a transverse process fracture would result in any spinal cord damage or paralysis, according to sportsinjuryclinic.net,

ORIGINAL STORY: NFL star and Atlanta native Cam Newton is in fair condition at the Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte following an accident which caused Netwon’s pickup truck to end up lying on the highway on its passenger side.

According to the Charlotte Observer, witnesses said that Newton’s Dodge truck was t-boned by a Buick Verano sedan in Charlotte at approximately 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. The witnesses said that the impact, near the front tire of Netwon’s lifted truck, caused the truck to swerve and skid onto its passenger side. Contrary to other reports, witnesses told the Charlotte Observer that Newton’s truck never flipped.

Both Newton and the driver of the Buick were taken to Carolinas Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries, the Observer said.

ESPN reports that the Carolina Panthers, Newton’s NFL team, say that their quarterback will be observed at the hospital overnight. Other sources tell ESPN that it appears that Newton only suffered scrapes and bruises in the accident.

Newton attended Westlake High School in Atlanta, and caught the attention of college programs during a 16-year-old when he passed for 2,500 yards and ran for 638 yards.