Hours before he died from a heart attack, Shane Warne sent a text to a friend whose pet dog had died to check in on his welfare.
The cricket great would also boast about his children in conversations with entertainment commentator Peter Ford, saying: ‘This is the greatest thing I’ve ever got right in my life, is those three kids’.’
Ford shared some details of the messages he exchanged with Warne, 52, on Sydney’s Radio 2GB on Monday morning.
Entertainment reporter Peter Ford shared the heartfelt last message he received from friend Shane Warne, 52, was a check -in after the cricket star heard Ford’s dog had died
Ford said Warne’s priority was always his family and described their chats a ‘hysterically funny’ and ‘highly defamatory’
Ford said he’s never actually met Warne but the pair had shared ‘thousands’ of texts over the years which Ford described as ‘hysterically funny’ – and sometimes ‘highly defamatory’.
Ford said Warne texted him last Friday asking ‘how are you going’ following the death of Ford’s dog – making news of Warne’s own passing even more difficult to believe.
Ford – who was careful only to share a few details of their conversations – told ben Fordham: ‘(Warne) always would talk about his kids. Such pride in his kids,’ he said.
‘In fact one of those messages said, ‘This is the greatest thing I’ve ever got right in my life, is those three kids’.
‘I’ve got no doubt getting to know him in this rather peculiar way, he was a very decent bloke who could be a silly, a ratbag, a larrikin, all those things we’ve been using. But I don’t doubt that he was an absolutely decent bloke.
Ford shared details of two text messages he received from cricket legend Warne in a radio interview on Monday morning (mock)
Friends and loved ones have flooded social media with heartfelt tributes to Shane Warne after his shock death in Thailand
‘In among these texts, one of the recurring themes whenever there was a new scandal or drama that he was involved in, he would say to me, ‘Peter, I just want to get the story out right, because I’m worried this is embarrassing for my kids and my parents’.
‘That was always in his mind.’
An autopsy on Warne’s body has been complete and Australian ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, said staff at the main state hospital in Surat Thani province were working hard to facilitate the return of his remains as soon as possible.
Australian ambassador to Thailand, Allan McKinnon, said staff at the main state hospital in Surat Thani province were working hard to quickly facilitate the return of Warne’s remains
Longtime friend and sporting News chief executive Tom Hall also shared his last moments with Warne in a heartfelt tribute.
Hall had been on a ‘boys trip’ with Warne at the Samujana resort on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, and described his last meal with the cricket legend.
‘I have dined with Shane in many fine establishments, but rather than sample some of the local Thai fare, we tuck into a plate of Vegemite on toast,’ he said.
‘Shane chomping away: ‘Geez, you can’t beat Vegemite with some butter, always great wherever you are in the world’.
‘An Australian through and through – this was to turn out to be his last meal.’
Warne then went upstairs to speak to his children on the phone. It was the last time Hall saw him alive.
The spin bowler’s final day included receiving a massage from two local masseuses at his villa and ordering a new tailored suit, according to Koh Samui police
Paramedic Anuch Han-iam described to The Sun the panicked moment he entered the villa and took over CPR from producer Andrew Neophitu.
Neophitu recently produced a documentary on Warne called ‘Shane’.
‘They were desperate. I think one was crying. They were really stressed and panicked,’ he said.
‘They kept trying to wake him and I heard someone saying, ‘Come on, Shane. Come on, Shane’.
‘I could see they were all shocked and I just tried to concentrate and do my best.’
Longtime friend and sporting News chief executive Tom Hall had been on a ‘boys trip’ with Warne at the Samujana resort on the island of Koh Samui, Thailand, and said his last meal was Vegemite toast
Mr Anuch said the room was clean and there were no signs of partying; not even empty beer bottles or smoked cigarettes.
‘I did my best for him and gave all my energy,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry that I couldn’t help him.’
The spin bowler’s final day included receiving a massage from two local masseuses at his villa and ordering a new tailored suit, according to Koh Samui police.
