STRATFORD, N.J. — The parents of hockey star Pelle Lindbergh said their goodbys to their brain-dead son today after giving doctors permission to remove his organs for transplant donations, said Philadelphia Flyers team physician Edward Viner.
Viner said that the organs probably would be removed "within the next 24 hours" but that Lindbergh's elderly parents wanted more time with their only son before allowing the operation to begin.
"Privately, they must hope there could be a miracle . . . but they're anxious not to lose the potential of helping others," Viner said of the family's decision to donate Lindbergh's vital organs.
Sigge Lindbergh flew from Sweden Monday to his son's bedside, where the goaltender's mother, Anna-Lisa, and fiance, Kerstin Pietzsch, have kept a vigil since the accident.
Lindbergh, 26, was considered legally drunk when he left an after-hours bar and drove his red Porsche 930 into a concrete wall in front of a Somerdale elementary school, authorities said.
Two passengers, Kathyleen McNeal, 22, of Ridley Park, Pa., and Edward T. Parvin, 28, of Mount Ephraim, also were injured in the accident. Parvin was listed in critical condition.
Dr. Louis Gallo, a staff surgeon at Kennedy Memorial Hospital, said Lindbergh's parents had signed a release allowing donation of his organs. Asked when the operation would begin, he replied, "We are awaiting their order to allow us to do that."
His relatives "have accepted the finality of his condition. They want more private time with him," Viner said.
Burial will be in Sweden, although no plans have been made, Viner said.
