“That Börje didn’t get to stay then… Feels awful”

Börje Salming died at the end of November.
Now Stig Salming mourns his mother’s passing.
– That Börje wasn’t allowed to stay then feels damn good, he says to Hockeysverige.

During the autumn, the hockey world followed Börje Salming’s fight against ALS with dismay. It was during the summer that the ice hockey legend announced that he had been diagnosed with the disease, and then it went quickly. In November, Salming received tributes in both Toronto and Stockholm, during the Hockey Gala of the Times.

Stig Salming’s grief

And just a week or so later, Börje Salming passed away. The icon died on November 24, surrounded by his immediate family, at his home in Nacka. And for Stig Salming it has been a turbulent and upheaval time. During the days, the next shocking news came for Sig, and for the entire Salming family.

For HockeySverige, Salming talks about the great sadness.

– In the past few days, our mother has also passed away and we didn’t get to be part of that moment together. That Börje wasn’t allowed to stay then feels damn good, he says.

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Turned 95 years old

Karin Salming was 95 years old.

– I was just getting up to tell her when it happened that Börje had passed away, says Stig Salming.

Stig Salming, who also lost his wife to cancer last year, also talks about how difficult it was to see his little brother seriously ill.

– I have to say that it was very, very difficult and heavy considering what we have been through since we were little. Then not being allowed to continue life where we had a lot of contact with each other. It is very, very heavy indeed.

Stig Salming also talks about how proud he is of his brother. Börje Salming has recently had a street named after him in Kiruna, near the Matojärvi ice rink. In addition, the foundation that works against ALS in Börje Salming’s name has raised large amounts of money.

– To have made such a collection as this has become, the forces it set in motion and, when I think of Börje in particular, what an impact he has for the sake of the good cause. That Börje meant a lot to this is nice, but it is sad that such diseases have to exist, he says.