How Flyers winger Oskar Lindblom is helping a Cherry Hill family cope with tragedy

Well, of course, Mom cried. She grew up with the Flyers in the 1970s, and the idea that current left winger Oskar Lindblom would personalize an autograph for her late son, Matt Lomazoff, took her breath away. He preferred to be called Matt, but he was always Matthew to her.

On Sunday, Lynn Lomazoff spent her first extended time away from the family’s Cherry Hill home since Matthew passed away on July 3 at 31.

It was the Flyers’ annual Hockey Fights Cancer night and — though it meant she would miss minyan prayer for the first time since he passed — she wanted to be among the 3,603 fans showing their appreciation for Lindblom. Lomazoff smiled as she looked to the heavens figuring her son would understand.

“I fight for Matthew Lomazoff,” Lindblom wrote on a jersey that will hang in the family’s home. What took the Flyers forward maybe 10 seconds will resonate with the Lomazoffs for years.

“Every day is a struggle for us,” Lynn Lomazoff said. “We never go out since Matthew passed away. For us to come here, to honor him and Oskar, it’s so special.”

Gregg Lomazoff, 35, called his younger brother Matthew as well. They were typical siblings growing up in Cherry Hill until everything changed in 2013, when Matt was diagnosed with brain cancer.

Matt raced cars competitively in the region and was involved in an accident at Englishtown Raceway in North Jersey. His car was wrecked, though he escaped relatively unscathed except for what initially was thought to be a concussion. But the symptoms — headaches, lethargy, related pain — persisted.

“There was a tumor probably the size of a closed fist, behind his right ear,” Gregg Lomazoff explained. “When he got into that accident, it moved it a little and started pressing on sensory things on the brain.”

The mass was removed, and within a year he was deemed cancer free. The scare had changed Matt.

» READ MORE: Sam Carchidi: Still plenty for the Flyers to get accomplished over final 11 games

He enrolled at Thomas Jefferson University in the prestigious medical imaging and radiation sciences program. Though he missed graduating by one semester, the family has set up a scholarship in his honor. He volunteered and assisted other cancer patients. The Cathy Miller Cancer Fund, which works with Coaches Vs. Cancer, invited Lomazoff to represent it by throwing out the first pitch at a 2014 Phillies game.

“He was never happier than when he was at Jefferson with the idea of being a health-care worker. So we established a scholarship so that his name will live for a long, long time.”

Matt’s brain cancer returned in 2018, setting up a battle that left his doctors amazed — the initial prognosis was that Matt might have had anywhere from one month to one year to live — and his big brother in awe.

“He took this horrible thing that happened to him and tried to make it better,” Gregg Lomazoff said. “He actually said a long time ago, and I agreed with him, ‘Cancer is the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to me.’ It changed who he was. It made him a different person.”

Lindblom, who had to have ribs removed in his battle with Ewing’s sarcoma, was saluted several times during Sunday’s game. He was given the honor of a solo lap before warmups. His Flyers teammates wore his No. 23 during those warmups. And at the first TV timeout, he was given a standing ovation as the Foo Fighters’ “[There goes] My Hero” played at the Wells Fargo Center.

Anybody got a Kleenex?

» VIDEO: Oskar Lindblom takes a lap by himself, joined by teammates

“I didn’t expect myself to react like that,” said Lindblom, who was moved as the Flyers and Islanders players tapped their sticks in his honor. “I didn’t know there was supposed to be anything about me during the game. It was emotional, and I was just trying to keep it together and focus on the game. It was an amazing moment, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

It also brought tears from the Lomazoffs, who equated it with a cherished memory.

“It reminded me of the birthday procession [on May 14 for Matt] when 60-some cars drove by our house,” Lynn Lomazoff said. “There’s a picture of Matthew sitting there during that. That’s exactly what I thought of when I saw Oskar.”

Matt would see Lindblom at Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center, but he never approached him. The man was going through an ordeal of his own, and the etiquette demanded he be given space.

On July 2, Lindblom rang the ceremonial bell to signal his final cancer treatment. That night, Gregg Lomazoff felt an inexplicable pull to order a Lindblom jersey online. The next day, his brother passed away. Gregg wore the jersey signed by Lindblom on Sunday.

That’s really the story here: two brothers and a family drawing closer under the most difficult conditions. Matt and Gregg traditionally went to the Flyers’ Hockey Fights Cancer game, even that year their mother drove Matt to the Wells Fargo Center directly from chemotherapy.

“I am so proud of Gregg honoring his brother like this. He loved his brother so much.”

A little more than a week ago, Gregg Lomazoff wrote a letter to Lindblom that set this whole thing in motion. Lomazoff invited his parents, and friend Zach Samson, out for Sunday’s game. They cried at times, hopefully recalled a few joyful memories, and even gritted their teeth in angst when the Islanders won on a fluke goal.

Then they all woke up on Monday just trying to move another day forward.

“The highlight of the night was being here with Gregg,” said his father, Howard Lomazoff. “Seeing how happy he was about being here, getting the Lindblom jersey signed, and what the Flyers and Oskar did for Matt’s memory.

“Matt’s story is really tragic. There’s nothing the medical people could ultimately do. I think what’s important is that Oskar Lindblom has a better story, a better outcome. That they can save him, and he can have a healthy and long career. We take comfort from that.”

Matthew Lomazoff finished one semester shy of graduating from Jefferson University. Through the school, the family has set up the Matthew B. Lomazoff Scholarship Fund.

Donations in his honor may be sent to the Office of Institutional Advancement, Dept. 825434, P.O. Box 71331, Philadelphia, 19176-1331, or visit Giving.Jefferson.edu for online details.