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.