Celebrate Swede's Life and Legacy

On August 19th, 2024, Swede was embarking on another one of his many adventures- driving from Arizona to Chicago to visit his daughter Lyric, before heading to his hometown of Erie, PA to support a benefit for a boy named Schaefer. Swede was supporting Schaefer through Swede's own non-profit organization, to help Schaefer receive STEM cell therapy for his Cerebral Palsy.

At 1:15 pm, Lyric called Swede to check in and see how his trip was going. He ended the call with " Aight Babe, I'm gonna get back on the road. Love you, can't wait to SQuEeZe you!" Around 3:30 pm, Lyric received a text that Swede was involved in an accident due to an automated iPhone text that is sent out to emergency contacts when iPhone detects a crash. He was in Nebraska headed east down I-80, 12 hours from Chicago. She called local authorities to go check on him at the coordinates he was last seen according to iPhone. At 9:30 pm, Lyric's mom called to share that a State Trooper came to her house in Florida and let her know of Swede's tragic passing in a fatal car accident. We are absolutely heartbroken.

Swede not only leaves behind his daughter, brother, sisters, and many, many friends and family worldwide, but also a legacy of what it means to live life with purpose, a sense of adventure, and spreading the love.

Swede was known as the life of the party growing up. He carried this larger-than-life personality into his adult years, always sharing funny stories, bringing people together, and overall just doing his best to be the best father and friend he could be- when he wasn't swinging around his terrible towel watching Steelers games. He loved playing his guitar, watching sunsets, traveling the world, and making people smile. He was the person you could call for advice, to help move a couch, or to kick it on the beach- and he was always there for you.

Swede was involved in an accident in Bali after he retired at 38. He had fallen off a roof chasing a monkey for his Steelers hat, which resulted in a broken neck and paralysis. Swede's community of folks he had come to know and love (and even complete strangers) came together to help save Swede, raising over $120,000 and earning him a life-flight out of Indonesia and a Spinal Surgery in Malaysia. This amazing effort of the community shows what an impact Swede made on so many. After Swede was out of surgery, he was overwhelmed by the amazing sense of love and support he had gotten in order to keep him alive and well on this planet. Though he was still paralyzed, he was alive. He promised to return the favor with his second lease on life, living a life with purpose and mission, and that he would throw the BIGGEST PARTY EVER to repay everyone for their kindness! And since then, he has worked tirelessly to do so at his home in Arizona. He completed a second college degree, started a non-profit called Help Swede Walk Again, and recently started another degree to go to law school in order to help pass policies related to healthcare.

It is with a heavy heart that we ask the community to once again come together to support Swede. This time not to save his life, but to celebrate it and send him off in a way he deserves.

We humbly ask the community to donate what they can to help Lyric and Swede's family take care of his end-of-life costs. Your donation will go towards things like cremation costs, celebrations of life, legal costs, and supporting Lyric as she handles Swede's affairs.

In order to uphold Swede's values of making a difference and to support his life's mission, any extra donations that do not go toward Swede's end-of-life costs will be donated to Schaefer and his family to help get Schaefer the STEM cell therapy he needs.

Though this tragic accident comes as a shock to so many, we want to go through this time in true Swede fashion- with positivity, supporting others, spreading love, and of course with the promise that we are throwing him the BIGGEST PARTY EVER! Details on celebrations of life to come.

As Swede said, "Always remember we are all in this together, always remember, no matter the weather, whether sunshine or rain, there’s no joy without pain, ALWAYS REMEMBER, we are all in this together!" We have so much gratitude in our hearts for the love and support of you all, we are sending you big Sweezy Squeezes!

And as always,

It's A Great Day To Be Alive <3