Heart-transplant survivor Earl Ingemann has died of injuries sustained in a New Year’s Day car crash.

Mr. Ingemann, 21, of Sandys, was a passenger in a car that hit a tree and overturned near Stone Crusher Corner, Kindley Field Road, St. George’s, at 3.35 a.m.

He suffered serious head and chest injuries and was taken to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital before being airlifted overseas to Johns Hopkins hospital in Baltimore later on New Year’s Day. He later succumbed to his injuries.

Mr. Ingemann had previously undergone heart transplant surgery at the same Baltimore hospital, having suffered from an enlarged heart. He featured on the US documentary series Hopkins last year.

Two others were injured in the collision that claimed his life. The 31-year-old car driver — who was arrested on suspicion of impaired driving but later passed a breath test — suffered abrasions to his face. A 23-year-old Sandys parish man and a 21-year-old Sandys parish woman also suffered minor injuries.

Mr. Ingemann’s death marks the first road fatality the Island has suffered in 2010. A total of 13 people died on the roads last year, with Bermuda suffering from a road death rate in the highest bracket on the international scale.

Anyone with information about the collision should call Detective Sergeant Jason Smith or Chief Inspector Tracy Adams at Southside Police Station on 278-5105.

Police particularly wish to hear from several motorcyclists travelling along Kindley Field Road at the time, anyone who saw a red Suzuki car, license number 33382, leaving the St. George’s town centre during the early hours of Friday, or any other motorists who were travelling on Kindley Field Road around the time of the incident.

* See tomorrow’s edition of The Royal Gazette for the full story and reaction to this news.