Soul Singer Pendergrass Critically Injured for 2nd Time in Car Crash

Soul singer Teddy Pendergrass, left a paraplegic by a 1982 car accident, was critically injured Thursday when he crashed his specially equipped van into a utility pole.

Pendergrass, 36, was listed in critical but stable condition at Osteopathic Medical Center in Philadelphia. Emergency room physicians said he could be out of the hospital in a week.

The physicians said Pendergrass suffered a four-inch gash in his liver. The singer was also treated for cuts on his legs and feet.

‘Lost Control’

“He was awake and alert when I saw him,” Dr. Steuben Parrillo said. “I asked him what happened and he said he looked down at the controls of his van and when he looked up he saw that he had lost control and that the van was going to hit a pole.”

Dr. Arthur Sesso, who performed surgery on the singer, said Pendergrass suffered heavy bleeding from the liver, but “as long as he doesn’t re-bleed or develop an infection, which are both possibilities, it looks like he’ll have a good recovery.”

Pendergrass’ nurse, Mary Deal, 48, of Philadelphia, who was in the van, suffered facial bruises and a broken thumb. She was reported in stable condition.

No Other Vehicles

The accident occurred in Lower Merion Township, a suburban community along Philadelphia’s western border. Police said no other vehicles were involved.

The van was equipped for Pendergrass, who was paralyzed from the waist down as a result of a March, 1982, accident in which he severely injured his spinal column when he slammed his Rolls-Royce into a tree in Philadelphia.

Pendergrass recently released a new album, “Working It Back,” his first since the 1982 accident.