Pelle Lindbergh - Death

Death

In the early morning hours of November 10, 1985, Lindbergh lost control of his customized Porsche 930 Turbo and struck a wall in front of a Somerdale, New Jersey elementary school, fatally injuring himself and severely injuring his two passengers. STAT Ambulance was the first EMS unit on scene. Stat's ambulance crew was returning to Kennedy hospital in Somerdale, NJ. Although declared brain dead a few hours later, he was kept on life support until his father arrived from Sweden late the next day and his parents gave their permission to terminate treatment. He died on November 11 after a five hour operation to harvest his heart and other organs for transplant. At the time of the accident he had just left the Coliseum, the former practice center for the Flyers located in Voorhees Township, where he was attending a team party. Law enforcement disclosed that he was intoxicated at the time of the accident, with a blood alcohol level of .24%, well above New Jersey's legal limit (.10%) at the time. Lindbergh topped the fan voting for the 1986 NHL All-Star Game. It would mark the first time that a player was chosen posthumously for an all-star team in a major North American team sport. Sean Taylor's selection to the 2008 Pro Bowl was the only other time this has happened. Although his number 31 was never officially retired by the Flyers, no Flyer has worn the number 31 since Lindbergh's death. Lindbergh is buried in Södra Skogskyrkogården, a cemetery in southern Stockholm.

In 2006, a Swedish biography entitled "Pelle Lindbergh: Behind the White Mask" was written by Swedish author Thomas Tynander. An English version was published in fall 2009. The English version was translated by Bill Meltzer and published by Middle Atlantic Press.